stegosaurus

/ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs/

//ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs// noun

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

The verdict

“stegosaurus” is uncommon English (frequency #82,810 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,810
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A stegosaur, a member of the suborder Stegosauria, of the order Ornithischia of the middle Jurassic to early Cretaceous period.

Key facts for stegosaurus
PropertyValue
Headwordstegosaurus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs/
Letters11
Frequency rank#82,810
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “stegosaurus” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). stegosaurus lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stegosaurus is uncommon English at frequency #82,810 among 54,294 “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.

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.

Using “stegosaurus”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-T-E-G-O-S-A-U-R-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːɹəs/ (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

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list