tabby
/ˈtæb.i/
"tabby" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tabby” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #37,725 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #37,725
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tabby |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtæb.i/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #37,725 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tabby” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tabby is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtæb.i/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,725 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for tabby, with forms such as "atbby", "tabbyy", and "taby". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "tay", "toby", "table", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Mid 17th century French tabis, from Arabic عَتَّابِيّ (ʕattābiyy), ultimately from Arabic الْعَتَّابِيَّة (al-ʕattābiyya), a quarter of Baghdad (named for a Prince عَتَّاب (ʕattāb)) which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk. S… The correct English form is tabby, spelled T-A-B-B-Y.
Definition
- 1A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.
- 2A concrete mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry, this becomes as hard as rock.
- 3A brindled cat.
- 4A woman, irrespective of age, but often used for a young, attractive woman.
- 5An old maid or gossip.
Etymology
Mid 17th century French tabis, from Arabic عَتَّابِيّ (ʕattābiyy), ultimately from Arabic الْعَتَّابِيَّة (al-ʕattābiyya), a quarter of Baghdad (named for a Prince عَتَّاب (ʕattāb)) which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk. See also taffeta, another type of silk whose name derives from the Persian تافته (tâfta, “woven cloth”) and shares a similar etymological origin.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: atbby,tabbyy,taby,tabyb,tbaby,ttabby
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tabby - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “tabby”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-B-B-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtæb.i/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tay” - see the side-by-side comparison. tabby vs tay
- 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.