portent
/ˈpɔɹtənt/
"portent" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“portent” is uncommon English (frequency #66,944 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #66,944
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Something that portends an event about to occur, especially an unfortunate or evil event; an omen.
Corpus desk
Index EN-portent · portent · English
portent · rank #66,944 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #66,944
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH prana
Nearest frequency peer: prana (+3 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “portent”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- plotlines
plotlines
33,064 corpus weight
- Polanco
Polanco
33,063 corpus weight
- polytheism
polytheism
33,061 corpus weight
- portent
portent
33,057 corpus weight
- prana
prana
33,054 corpus weight
- prayerful
prayerful
33,053 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “portent” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | portent |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɔɹtənt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #66,944 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “portent” in English
Rare enough to double-check
portent is uncommon English at frequency #66,944 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɔɹtənt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
portent has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin portentum, participle of portendere, from portendō (“I predict, I foretell”). The correct English form is portent, spelled P-O-R-T-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1Something that portends an event about to occur, especially an unfortunate or evil event; an omen.
- 2A portending; significance
- 3Something regarded as portentous; a marvel; prodigy.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how portent appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It was a portent of things to come.
a howl of dire portent
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin portentum, participle of portendere, from portendō (“I predict, I foretell”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "portent", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).