spurge
/spɜːdʒ/
"spurge" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spurge” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any plant of the genus Euphorbia, a diverse genus of over 2,000 species.
Corpus desk
Index EN-spurge · spurge · English
spurge · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spurge |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /spɜːdʒ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “spurge” in English
Rare enough to double-check
spurge is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /spɜːdʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for spurge in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Old French espurgebor. Middle English spurge English spurge Inherited from Middle English spurge, from Old French espurge, from espurgier (“to purge”), from Latin expurgo (“I purge”); the bitter milky sap of these plants was formerly used as … The correct English form is spurge, spelled S-P-U-R-G-E.
Definition
- 1Any plant of the genus Euphorbia, a diverse genus of over 2,000 species.
- 2Any plant of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae.
- 3A plant resembling those in genus Euphorbia in some aspect of its appearance.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how spurge appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
But cockle, spurge, according to their law / Might propagate their kind, with none to awe, / You'd think; a burr had been a treasure trove.
A compound of spurge, cardamom, cinnamon of Mecca, pellitory, ginger, nettle seed is an Arab specific for sexual weakness.
Etymology
Etymology tree Old French espurgebor. Middle English spurge English spurge Inherited from Middle English spurge, from Old French espurge, from espurgier (“to purge”), from Latin expurgo (“I purge”); the bitter milky sap of these plants was formerly used as a purgative.
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.