sparrowhawk

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sparrowhawk" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sparrowhawk” is uncommon English (frequency #79,990 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#79,990
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, a small, short-winged European hawk that preys on smaller birds.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sparrowhawk · sparrowhawk · English

sparrowhawk · rank #79,990 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #79,990
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sophistry

Nearest frequency peer: sophistry (-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 “sparrowhawk”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sparrowhawk
PropertyValue
Headwordsparrowhawk
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#79,990
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sparrowhawk” 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).sparrowhawkfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “sophistry” (#79,988), “snowshoeing” (#79,986), “splattering” (#79,994). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sparrowhawk” is #79,990. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sparrowhawk is uncommon English at frequency #79,990 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for sparrowhawk, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sparhauk, sperhauk, from Old English spearhafoc, spearhabuc (“sparrow-hawk”), from Proto-West Germanic *sparwahabuk, from Proto-Germanic *sparwahabukaz, equivalent to sparrow + hawk. Cognate with Danish spurvehøg (“sparrowhawk”), Swedish… The correct English form is sparrowhawk, spelled S-P-A-R-R-O-W-H-A-W-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, a small, short-winged European hawk that preys on smaller birds.
  2. 2
    A Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, a small, short-winged European hawk that preys on smaller birds.
  3. 3
    Any of numerous other relatively small birds of Old World species of Accipiter, that prey on smaller birds or otherwise resemble A. nisus.
  4. 4
    Alternative form of sparrow hawk; American kestrel, Falco sparverius, of similar size and habit.

Etymology

From Middle English sparhauk, sperhauk, from Old English spearhafoc, spearhabuc (“sparrow-hawk”), from Proto-West Germanic *sparwahabuk, from Proto-Germanic *sparwahabukaz, equivalent to sparrow + hawk. Cognate with Danish spurvehøg (“sparrowhawk”), Swedish sparvhök (“sparrowhawk”), Icelandic sparrhaukur (“sparrowhawk”).

This word in other languages

épervier(Français)Sperber(Deutsch)

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 "sparrowhawk"?
"sparrowhawk" is spelled S-P-A-R-R-O-W-H-A-W-K.
What does "sparrowhawk" mean?
As a noun, "sparrowhawk" means: A Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, a small, short-winged European hawk that preys on smaller birds.
What is the origin of the word "sparrowhawk"?
From Middle English sparhauk, sperhauk, from Old English spearhafoc, spearhabuc (“sparrow-hawk”), from Proto-West Germanic *sparwahabuk, from Proto-Germanic *sparwahabukaz, equivalent to sparrow + hawk. Cognate with Danish spurvehøg (“sparrowhawk”... 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 "sparrowhawk", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

snowshoeing#79,986splattering#79,994Sudetenland#80,014Proterozoic#79,886

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list