scallion
[ˈskæ.lɪ.ən]
"scallion" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“scallion” is an uncommon English word, ranked #89,867 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #89,867
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A spring onion, Allium fistulosum.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | scallion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈskæ.lɪ.ən] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #89,867 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “scallion” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for scallion is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈskæ.lɪ.ən]. Corpus data places it at rank #89,867 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for scallion, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scaloun (“shallot”), from Anglo-Norman scalun (variant of Old French eschaloigne), from a Proto-Romance derivation of Vulgar Latin *escalonia, from Latin Ascalonius (in caepa (“onion”) Ascalonius, "shallot"), from Ascalo (“Ascalon”), fro… The correct English form is scallion, spelled S-C-A-L-L-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A spring onion, Allium fistulosum.
- 2Any of various similar members of the genus Allium.
- 3Any onion that lacks a fully developed bulb.
- 4A leek.
Etymology
From Middle English scaloun (“shallot”), from Anglo-Norman scalun (variant of Old French eschaloigne), from a Proto-Romance derivation of Vulgar Latin *escalonia, from Latin Ascalonius (in caepa (“onion”) Ascalonius, "shallot"), from Ascalo (“Ascalon”), from Ancient Greek Ἀσκάλων (Askálōn, “Ascalon, an ancient port city in the Levant”), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן (ʾašqəlôn).
Synonyms
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 “scallion”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-C-A-L-L-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈskæ.lɪ.ən] (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
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.