Shikoku

/ʃɪˈkəʊkuː/

//ʃɪˈkəʊkuː// name

"shikoku" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Shikoku” is uncommon English (frequency #76,329 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,329
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The fourth-largest of Japan's islands.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shikoku · Shikoku · English

Shikoku · rank #76,329 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,329
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shiller

Nearest frequency peer: shiller (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “Shikoku”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “Shikoku” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Shikoku
PropertyValue
HeadwordShikoku
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ʃɪˈkəʊkuː/
Letters7
Frequency rank#76,329
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Shikoku” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).Shikokufalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “shiller” (#76,330), “sheeps” (#76,327), “Sheedy” (#76,326). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “Shikoku” is #76,329. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Shikoku is uncommon English at frequency #76,329 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ʃɪˈkəʊkuː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The fourth-largest of Japan's islands.".

Shikoku doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Japanese 四国 (しこく, Shikoku, “four provinces”), from Middle Chinese 四 (sìj, “four”) + 國 (kwok, “state”, “country”). (dog): < Japanese 四国犬 (shikoku-inu, “Shikoku dog”), named after the island where they originated. The correct English form is Shikoku, spelled S-H-I-K-O-K-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    The fourth-largest of Japan's islands.

Etymology

From Japanese 四国 (しこく, Shikoku, “four provinces”), from Middle Chinese 四 (sìj, “four”) + 國 (kwok, “state”, “country”). (dog): < Japanese 四国犬 (shikoku-inu, “Shikoku dog”), named after the island where they originated.

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

How do you spell "Shikoku"?
"Shikoku" is spelled S-H-I-K-O-K-U. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃɪˈkəʊkuː/.
What does "Shikoku" mean?
As a proper noun, "Shikoku" means: The fourth-largest of Japan's islands.
How do you pronounce "Shikoku"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Shikoku" is /ʃɪˈkəʊkuː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Shikoku"?
From Japanese 四国 (しこく, Shikoku, “four provinces”), from Middle Chinese 四 (sìj, “four”) + 國 (kwok, “state”, “country”). (dog): < Japanese 四国犬 (shikoku-inu, “Shikoku dog”), named after the island where they originated. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Shikoku", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list