rivulet
/ˈɹɪv.jʊ.lɪt/
"rivulet" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rivulet” is uncommon English (frequency #96,420 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #96,420
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small stream; a streamlet; a gill.
Corpus desk
Index EN-rivulet · rivulet · English
rivulet · rank #96,420 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #96,420
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH rimless
Nearest frequency peer: rimless (-2 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 “rivulet”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- rew
rew
3,588 corpus weight
- rideout
rideout
3,584 corpus weight
- rimless
rimless
3,583 corpus weight
- rivulet
rivulet
3,581 corpus weight
- Rohn
Rohn
3,577 corpus weight
- roofless
roofless
3,575 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “rivulet” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rivulet |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɪv.jʊ.lɪt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #96,420 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “rivulet” in English
Rare enough to double-check
rivulet is uncommon English at frequency #96,420 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɹɪv.jʊ.lɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for rivulet in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French riveret (“little stream”) or from Italian rivoletto, from Italian rivo, from Latin rivus. The correct English form is rivulet, spelled R-I-V-U-L-E-T.
Definition
- 1A small stream; a streamlet; a gill.
- 2Perizoma affinitatum, a geometrid moth.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rivulet appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A rivulet of tears ran down his face.
Yes Madam I think you will like them—when you shall see in a beautiful Quarto Page how a neat rivulet of Text shall meander thro' a meadow of margin—'fore Gad, they will be the most elegant Things of their kind—
Etymology
From Old French riveret (“little stream”) or from Italian rivoletto, from Italian rivo, from Latin rivus.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rivulet", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).