stoat

/ˈstəʊt/

//ˈstəʊt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“stoat” is uncommon English (frequency #91,023 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,023
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mustela erminea, the ermine or short-tailed weasel, a mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stoat · stoat · English

stoat · rank #91,023 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #91,023
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Stockhausen

Nearest frequency peer: Stockhausen (+2 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 “stoat”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for stoat
PropertyValue
Headwordstoat
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈstəʊt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#91,023
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stoat” in English

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Stockhausen” (#91,025), “stap” (#91,019), “stanky” (#91,017). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stoat” is #91,023. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stoat is uncommon English at frequency #91,023 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈstəʊt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Mustela erminea, the ermine or short-tailed weasel, a mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip.".

stoat doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English stote (“the ermine, especially in its brown summer coat”), of uncertain origin. The word bears some resemblance to Old Norse stutr (“bull”), Swedish stut (“bull, steer”) and Danish stud (“steer”) (see also English stot), but the semantic… The correct English form is stoat, spelled S-T-O-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mustela erminea, the ermine or short-tailed weasel, a mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I have never seen Stoats hunt in packs, but it is certain both Weasels and Stoats do so.
  2. In 1953 it was reported that the stoat had increased to a high population level, but that the weasel introduced at the same time had disappeared (de Vos et al. 1956).

Etymology

From Middle English stote (“the ermine, especially in its brown summer coat”), of uncertain origin. The word bears some resemblance to Old Norse stutr (“bull”), Swedish stut (“bull, steer”) and Danish stud (“steer”) (see also English stot), but the semantic link is difficult unless a common origin is from “(brown?) male mammal”. First attested in the mid 1400s.

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 "stoat"?
"stoat" is spelled S-T-O-A-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstəʊt/.
What does "stoat" mean?
As a noun, "stoat" means: Mustela erminea, the ermine or short-tailed weasel, a mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip.
How do you pronounce "stoat"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stoat" is /ˈstəʊt/. 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 "stoat"?
From Middle English stote (“the ermine, especially in its brown summer coat”), of uncertain origin. The word bears some resemblance to Old Norse stutr (“bull”), Swedish stut (“bull, steer”) and Danish stud (“steer”) (see also English stot), but th... 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 "stoat", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

squee#91,013slaty#90,996shish#90,986THAAD#91,065

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list