stillbirth

noun

"stillbirth" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stillbirth” is an uncommon English word, ranked #59,046 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#59,046
frequency rank, English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The birth of a dead fetus; the delivery of an infant which is dead at birth.

Key facts for stillbirth
PropertyValue
Headwordstillbirth
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#59,046
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “stillbirth” 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). stillbirth lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for stillbirth is 10 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #59,046 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for stillbirth, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From still + birth. The correct English form is stillbirth, spelled S-T-I-L-L-B-I-R-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    The birth of a dead fetus; the delivery of an infant which is dead at birth.
  2. 2
    The birth of a dead fetus after 20 weeks of gestation.

Etymology

From still + birth.

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 "stillbirth"?
"stillbirth" is spelled S-T-I-L-L-B-I-R-T-H.
What does "stillbirth" mean?
As a noun, "stillbirth" means: The birth of a dead fetus; the delivery of an infant which is dead at birth.
What is the origin of the word "stillbirth"?
From still + birth. 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 “stillbirth”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is S-T-I-L-L-B-I-R-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

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