quetzal
/ˈkɛt.səl/
"quetzal" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“quetzal” is uncommon English (frequency #94,157 among 2,880 “Q” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #94,157
- frequency rank, English
- 2,880
- “Q” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any trogon of the genus Pharomacrus, especially a resplendent quetzal (Pharomacrus mocinno), which has very long tail feathers and is found in Guatemala and Costa Rica.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | quetzal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɛt.səl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #94,157 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “quetzal” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
quetzal is uncommon English at frequency #94,157 among 2,880 “Q” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɛt.səl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
quetzal doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Spanish quetzal, from Classical Nahuatl quetzalli (“brightly colored tail feather, quetzal feather”), from quetza (“to raise, lift”); see also Classical Nahuatl quetzaltōtōtl (“quetzal bird”). The correct English form is quetzal, spelled Q-U-E-T-Z-A-L.
Definition
- 1Any trogon of the genus Pharomacrus, especially a resplendent quetzal (Pharomacrus mocinno), which has very long tail feathers and is found in Guatemala and Costa Rica.
- 2A monetary unit used in Guatemala, equal to 100 centavos.
Etymology
From Spanish quetzal, from Classical Nahuatl quetzalli (“brightly colored tail feather, quetzal feather”), from quetza (“to raise, lift”); see also Classical Nahuatl quetzaltōtōtl (“quetzal bird”).
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 “quetzal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Q-U-E-T-Z-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɛt.səl/ (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.