redskin
"redskin" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“redskin” is uncommon English (frequency #73,582 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #73,582
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A Native American.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | redskin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #73,582 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “redskin” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
redskin is uncommon English at frequency #73,582 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A Native American.".
No misspelling variants are generated for redskin in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From red + skin. References to indigenous Americans' skin being red can be found from the 1580s, although not consistently (another European in 1584 described indigenous Americans as "yellowish"); in some cases the reference may be not to their skin color p… The correct English form is redskin, spelled R-E-D-S-K-I-N.
Definition
- 1A Native American.
Etymology
From red + skin. References to indigenous Americans' skin being red can be found from the 1580s, although not consistently (another European in 1584 described indigenous Americans as "yellowish"); in some cases the reference may be not to their skin color per se but to their painting themselves with red paint. A letter ostensibly from 1699, which was formerly cited as the earliest reference to "red skins", was not published until 1900 and is now recognized as fake. The earliest documented instance of the term "redskin" is from a 1769 discussion between the Piankeshaw and John Wilkins, this and other early uses appear to be translating terms meaning red + skin, flesh, or people that the tribes of the Illinois / Mississippi Valley area used to refer to themselves when communicating with the French (who translated such terms as French peau-rouge) and with English-speakers (whence redskin). Piecewise doublet of Rauðskinna.
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.
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Using “redskin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-D-S-K-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.