stegosaurus

/ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs/

//ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs// noun

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

The verdict

“stegosaurus” is uncommon English (frequency #82,810 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,810
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A stegosaur, a member of the suborder Stegosauria, of the order Ornithischia of the middle Jurassic to early Cretaceous period.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stegosaurus · stegosaurus · English

stegosaurus · rank #82,810 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,810
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stonemason

Nearest frequency peer: stonemason (+3 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 “stegosaurus”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for stegosaurus
PropertyValue
Headwordstegosaurus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs/
Letters11
Frequency rank#82,810
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stegosaurus” 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).stegosaurusfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “stonemason” (#82,813), “Stanger” (#82,805), “striven” (#82,815). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stegosaurus” is #82,810. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stegosaurus is uncommon English at frequency #82,810 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for stegosaurus in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the genus name Stegosaurus. From Ancient Greek στέγος (stégos, “roof”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard”). The correct English form is stegosaurus, spelled S-T-E-G-O-S-A-U-R-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A stegosaur, a member of the suborder Stegosauria, of the order Ornithischia of the middle Jurassic to early Cretaceous period.
  2. 2
    A member of the genus Stegosaurus within this suborder.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "You will observe that both the pterodactyl and the stegosaurus are Jurassic, and therefore of a great age in the order of life."
  2. So you tell your friends about it, including the people who have no interest in birding and wouldn't know a Le Conte's sparrow from a stegosaurus.

Etymology

From the genus name Stegosaurus. From Ancient Greek στέγος (stégos, “roof”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard”).

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); 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 "stegosaurus"?
"stegosaurus" is spelled S-T-E-G-O-S-A-U-R-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs/.
What does "stegosaurus" mean?
As a noun, "stegosaurus" means: A stegosaur, a member of the suborder Stegosauria, of the order Ornithischia of the middle Jurassic to early Cretaceous period.
How do you pronounce "stegosaurus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stegosaurus" is /ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs/. 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 "stegosaurus"?
From the genus name Stegosaurus. From Ancient Greek στέγος (stégos, “roof”) + σαῦρος (saûros, “lizard”). 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 "stegosaurus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list