remora
/ɹɪˈmɔːɹə/
"remora" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“remora” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various elongate fish from the family Echeneidae, the dorsal fin of which is in the form of a suction disc that can take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals.
Corpus desk
Index EN-remora · remora · English
remora · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | remora |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈmɔːɹə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “remora” in English
Rare enough to double-check
remora is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɹɪˈmɔːɹə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for remora, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. 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: Borrowed from Latin remora (“delay, hindrance, passive resistance”), from the belief that the fish would attach themselves to ships and slow them down, from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + mora (“delay”) (from Proto-Indo-European *mere (“to delay, … The correct English form is remora, spelled R-E-M-O-R-A.
Definition
- 1Any of various elongate fish from the family Echeneidae, the dorsal fin of which is in the form of a suction disc that can take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals.
- 2A serpent.
- 3A delay; a hindrance, an obstacle.
- 4A surgical instrument, intended to retain parts in their places.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how remora appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The Remoræ (Echeneisidæ) form the last family of the soft-finned, subbrachian fishes. They are characterized at once by the top of their heads being flattened, and furnished with transverse series of cartilaginous plates, somewhat similar to the plates under the toes of the Gecko, by which these fish attach themselves to ships, rocks, and marine bodies.
The remora, lump-sucker, and others are provided with a muscular disk in the form of a sucker, by which they adhere to other fish or bodies moving through the water: [...]
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin remora (“delay, hindrance, passive resistance”), from the belief that the fish would attach themselves to ships and slow them down, from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + mora (“delay”) (from Proto-Indo-European *mere (“to delay, hinder”), from *(s)mer- (“to fall into thinking, remember; to care for”)).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.