quadruped
/ˈkwɒdɹəpɛd/
"quadruped" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“quadruped” is uncommon English (frequency #94,155 among 2,880 “Q” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #94,155
- frequency rank, English
- 2,880
- “Q” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A four-footed or four-legged animal.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | quadruped |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkwɒdɹəpɛd/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #94,155 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “quadruped” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
quadruped is uncommon English at frequency #94,155 among 2,880 “Q” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkwɒdɹəpɛd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for quadruped, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French quadrupède, from Middle French, from Latin stem of quadrupēs (“four-footed, a four-footed animal”), from quadri- (“four-”) + stem of pes (“foot”). Alternatively analyzable as quadru- + -ped. Doublet of tetrapod. The correct English form is quadruped, spelled Q-U-A-D-R-U-P-E-D.
Definition
- 1A four-footed or four-legged animal.
- 2A mammal ambulating on all fours.
Etymology
Borrowed from French quadrupède, from Middle French, from Latin stem of quadrupēs (“four-footed, a four-footed animal”), from quadri- (“four-”) + stem of pes (“foot”). Alternatively analyzable as quadru- + -ped. Doublet of tetrapod.
Synonyms
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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Using “quadruped”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Q-U-A-D-R-U-P-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkwɒdɹəpɛd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.