spoor

/spʊə/

//spʊə// noun

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

"spoor" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spoor” is uncommon English (frequency #84,772 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,772
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The track, trail, droppings, or scent of an animal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spoor · spoor · English

spoor · rank #84,772 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,772
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sportsperson

Nearest frequency peer: sportsperson (+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 “spoor”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for spoor
PropertyValue
Headwordspoor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/spʊə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#84,772
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “spoor” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).spoorfalls 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: “sportsperson” (#84,773), “speedrun” (#84,769), “soundproofing” (#84,766). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spoor” is #84,772. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

spoor is uncommon English at frequency #84,772 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /spʊə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The track, trail, droppings, or scent of an animal.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for spoor, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Early 19th century, from Afrikaans spoor, from Dutch spoor (“track”). Akin to Old English and Old Norse spor (whence Danish spor), and German Spur, all from Proto-Germanic *spurą. Compare spurn. The correct English form is spoor, spelled S-P-O-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    The track, trail, droppings, or scent of an animal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how spoor appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. We all stopped to examine that monstrous spoor. If it were indeed a bird - and what animal could leave such a mark? - its foot was so much larger than an ostrich's that its height upon the same scale must be enormous.
  2. Even poor Nobs appeared dejected as we quit the compound and set out upon the well-marked spoor of the abductor.

Etymology

Early 19th century, from Afrikaans spoor, from Dutch spoor (“track”). Akin to Old English and Old Norse spor (whence Danish spor), and German Spur, all from Proto-Germanic *spurą. Compare spurn.

This word in other languages

rastro(Español)fumée(Français)Fußspur(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 "spoor"?
"spoor" is spelled S-P-O-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /spʊə/.
What does "spoor" mean?
As a noun, "spoor" means: The track, trail, droppings, or scent of an animal.
How do you pronounce "spoor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spoor" is /spʊə/. 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 "spoor"?
Early 19th century, from Afrikaans spoor, from Dutch spoor (“track”). Akin to Old English and Old Norse spor (whence Danish spor), and German Spur, all from Proto-Germanic *spurą. Compare spurn. 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 "spoor", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

slosh#84,758shabu#84,738sepoy#84,734thems#84,826

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list