rotavirus
/ˈɹəʊtəˌvaɪɹəs/
"rotavirus" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rotavirus” is uncommon English (frequency #70,223 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #70,223
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of a group of wheel-shaped viruses, of the genus Rotavirus, that causes gastroenteritis and diarrhea in children and animals.
Corpus desk
Index EN-rotavirus · rotavirus · English
rotavirus · rank #70,223 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #70,223
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH Rossa
Nearest frequency peer: Rossa (-1 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “rotavirus”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- roomful
roomful
29,781 corpus weight
- Rosanne
Rosanne
29,780 corpus weight
- Rossa
Rossa
29,779 corpus weight
- rotavirus
rotavirus
29,778 corpus weight
- Roussel
Roussel
29,777 corpus weight
- rubberized
rubberized
29,775 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “rotavirus” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rotavirus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹəʊtəˌvaɪɹəs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #70,223 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rotavirus” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
rotavirus is uncommon English at frequency #70,223 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɹəʊtəˌvaɪɹəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of a group of wheel-shaped viruses, of the genus Rotavirus, that causes gastroenteritis and diarrhea in children and animals.".
No misspelling variants are generated for rotavirus in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin rota (“wheel”) + virus. The name was first proposed in July 1974 in an article in The Lancet. The correct English form is rotavirus, spelled R-O-T-A-V-I-R-U-S.
Definition
- 1Any of a group of wheel-shaped viruses, of the genus Rotavirus, that causes gastroenteritis and diarrhea in children and animals.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how rotavirus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We propose therefore that these reovirus-like or orbivirus-like enteritis viruses of calves and children are in a group separate from both orbiviruses and reoviruses, and we suggest that the term “rotavirus” (from the Latin rota, a wheel) should be used for them.
Etymology
From Latin rota (“wheel”) + virus. The name was first proposed in July 1974 in an article in The Lancet.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rotavirus", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "rotavirus". Here's where to go from here.
- Usage frequency rank #70,223 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "R" letter cohort. R–Z browse
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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.