swallowtail

/ˈswɒl.əʊˌteɪl/

//ˈswɒl.əʊˌteɪl// noun

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

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

The verdict

“swallowtail” is uncommon English (frequency #92,129 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,129
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The forked tail of a swallow.

Corpus desk

Index EN-swallowtail · swallowtail · English

swallowtail · rank #92,129 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,129
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH tache

Nearest frequency peer: tache (+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 “swallowtail”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for swallowtail
PropertyValue
Headwordswallowtail
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈswɒl.əʊˌteɪl/
Letters11
Frequency rank#92,129
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “swallowtail” 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).swallowtailfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “tache” (#92,131), “Taguig” (#92,132), “surfside” (#92,124). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “swallowtail” is #92,129. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

swallowtail is uncommon English at frequency #92,129 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈswɒl.əʊˌteɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for swallowtail in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From swallow + tail. The correct English form is swallowtail, spelled S-W-A-L-L-O-W-T-A-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    The forked tail of a swallow.
  2. 2
    Anything, such as a burgee, of a similar forked shape.
  3. 3
    A type of tailcoat with two long tapering tails.
  4. 4
    Any of various butterflies of the family Papilionidae, many of which have a long extension to each hindwing.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
  2. Here I obtained the rare and beautiful swallow-tail butterflies, Papilio aenomaus and P. liris; the males of which are quite unlike each other, and belong in fact to distinct sections of the genus, while the females are so much alike that they are undistinguishable on the wing, and to an uneducated eye equally so in the cabinet.

Etymology

From swallow + tail.

This word in other languages

frac(Español)frac(Français)Schwalbenschwanz(Deutsch)

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 "swallowtail"?
"swallowtail" is spelled S-W-A-L-L-O-W-T-A-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈswɒl.əʊˌteɪl/.
What does "swallowtail" mean?
As a noun, "swallowtail" means: The forked tail of a swallow.
How do you pronounce "swallowtail"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "swallowtail" is /ˈswɒl.əʊˌteɪl/. 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 "swallowtail"?
From swallow + tail. 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 "swallowtail", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

spinosaurus#92,100tobacconist#92,162sickeningly#92,072serological#92,054

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list