spermatozoon
/ˌspɜːmətə(ʊ)ˈzəʊɒn/
"spermatozoon" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spermatozoon” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A reproductive cell or gamete of a male, carried in semen, that fertilizes an ovum to produce a zygote.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spermatozoon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌspɜːmətə(ʊ)ˈzəʊɒn/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “spermatozoon” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
spermatozoon is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌspɜːmətə(ʊ)ˈzəʊɒn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A reproductive cell or gamete of a male, carried in semen, that fertilizes an ovum to produce a zygote.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for spermatozoon, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “sperm”) + ζῷον (zōîon, “living thing”), equivalent to spermato- + -zoon. The correct English form is spermatozoon, spelled S-P-E-R-M-A-T-O-Z-O-O-N.
Definition
- 1A reproductive cell or gamete of a male, carried in semen, that fertilizes an ovum to produce a zygote.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek σπέρμα (spérma, “sperm”) + ζῷον (zōîon, “living thing”), equivalent to spermato- + -zoon.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “spermatozoon”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-E-R-M-A-T-O-Z-O-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌspɜːmətə(ʊ)ˈzəʊɒn/ (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.