small intestine

noun

"small-intestine" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“small intestine” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The upper part of the intestine, between the stomach and the large intestine, divided into the duodenum, the jejunum and the ileum.

Corpus desk

Index EN-small-intestine · small intestine · English

small intestine · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" 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.

Key facts for small intestine
PropertyValue
Headwordsmall intestine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “small intestine” in English

small intestineranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

small intestine is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The upper part of the intestine, between the stomach and the large intestine, divided into the duodenum, the jejunum and the ileum.".

Zero misspellings are on record for small intestine in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From small + intestine, perhaps a partial calque of Middle English smaltharm, smaleþarm, from Old English smælþearme (“lower gut, small intestine”, literally “small tharm”). The correct English form is small intestine, spelled S-M-A-L-L- -I-N-T-E-S-T-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The upper part of the intestine, between the stomach and the large intestine, divided into the duodenum, the jejunum and the ileum.

Etymology

From small + intestine, perhaps a partial calque of Middle English smaltharm, smaleþarm, from Old English smælþearme (“lower gut, small intestine”, literally “small tharm”).

Synonyms

small bowel

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "small intestine"?
"small intestine" is spelled S-M-A-L-L- -I-N-T-E-S-T-I-N-E.
What does "small intestine" mean?
As a noun, "small intestine" means: The upper part of the intestine, between the stomach and the large intestine, divided into the duodenum, the jejunum and the ileum.
What is the origin of the word "small intestine"?
From small + intestine, perhaps a partial calque of Middle English smaltharm, smaleþarm, from Old English smælþearme (“lower gut, small intestine”, literally “small tharm”). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list