tadpole

/ˈtædpoʊl/

//ˈtædpoʊl// noun

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

"tadpole" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tadpole” is uncommon English (frequency #52,665 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,665
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A young toad or frog in its larval stage of development that lives in water, has a tail and no legs, and, like a fish, breathes through gills.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tadpole · tadpole · English

tadpole · rank #52,665 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,665
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tacking

Nearest frequency peer: tacking (-1 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 “tadpole”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tadpole
PropertyValue
Headwordtadpole
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtædpoʊl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#52,665
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tadpole” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).tadpolefalls 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: “tacking” (#52,664), “Takei” (#52,666), “sympathetically” (#52,663). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tadpole” is #52,665. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tadpole is uncommon English at frequency #52,665 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtædpoʊl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tadpole, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tadpolle, taddepol, equivalent to toad + poll (“head”). The correct English form is tadpole, spelled T-A-D-P-O-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A young toad or frog in its larval stage of development that lives in water, has a tail and no legs, and, like a fish, breathes through gills.
  2. 2
    The aquatic larva of any amphibian.
  3. 3
    A type of cargo bike that has two wheels in front and one in back.
  4. 4
    A child's basic drawing of a human being, having a detailed head but only sticks for the body and limbs.
  5. 5
    A small child.
  6. 6
    An insignificant person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. salamander tadpole
  2. Shouldn't you tadpoles be in bed?

Etymology

From Middle English tadpolle, taddepol, equivalent to toad + poll (“head”).

Synonyms

polliwogporriwiggle

This word in other languages

renacuajo(Español)têtard(Français)Kaulquappe(Deutsch)girino(Português)

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 "tadpole"?
"tadpole" is spelled T-A-D-P-O-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtædpoʊl/.
What does "tadpole" mean?
As a noun, "tadpole" means: A young toad or frog in its larval stage of development that lives in water, has a tail and no legs, and, like a fish, breathes through gills.
How do you pronounce "tadpole"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tadpole" is /ˈtædpoʊl/. 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 "tadpole"?
From Middle English tadpolle, taddepol, equivalent to toad + poll (“head”). 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 "tadpole", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tacking#52,664travail#52,684trophic#52,685tsarist#52,686

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list