ptarmigan
/ˈtɑːmɪɡən/
"ptarmigan" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ptarmigan” is uncommon English (frequency #89,803 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #89,803
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of three species of small grouse in the genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and Eurasia.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ptarmigan · ptarmigan · English
ptarmigan · rank #89,803 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #89,803
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH proteome
Nearest frequency peer: proteome (-1 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 “ptarmigan”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- pronotum
pronotum
10,200 corpus weight
- proteome
proteome
10,199 corpus weight
- ptarmigan
ptarmigan
10,198 corpus weight
- publick
publick
10,197 corpus weight
- Puntland
Puntland
10,195 corpus weight
- purposeless
purposeless
10,194 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “ptarmigan” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ptarmigan |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɑːmɪɡən/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #89,803 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ptarmigan” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ptarmigan is uncommon English at frequency #89,803 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtɑːmɪɡən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of three species of small grouse in the genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and Eurasia.".
Zero misspellings are on record for ptarmigan in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scottish Gaelic tarmachan, of unknown origin. The pt- comes from a mistaken belief in a Greek origin, as if related to ptero- (“wing”). The correct English form is ptarmigan, spelled P-T-A-R-M-I-G-A-N.
Definition
- 1Any of three species of small grouse in the genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and Eurasia.
Etymology
From Scottish Gaelic tarmachan, of unknown origin. The pt- comes from a mistaken belief in a Greek origin, as if related to ptero- (“wing”).
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 "ptarmigan", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).