taiko

/ˈtaɪkəʊ/

//ˈtaɪkəʊ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“taiko” is uncommon English (frequency #72,811 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,811
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A traditional drum, beaten by yobidashi to announce the beginning of a tournament, and at the end of each day

Corpus desk

Index EN-taiko · taiko · English

taiko · rank #72,811 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,811
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Taiping

Nearest frequency peer: Taiping (+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 “taiko”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for taiko
PropertyValue
Headwordtaiko
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtaɪkəʊ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#72,811
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “taiko” 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).taikofalls 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: “Taiping” (#72,812), “Tano” (#72,814), “tased” (#72,815). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “taiko” is #72,811. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

taiko is uncommon English at frequency #72,811 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtaɪkəʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for taiko in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 太鼓 (たいこ taiko), from 太 (tʰàj, “great”) + 鼓 (kú, “drum”). The correct English form is taiko, spelled T-A-I-K-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    A traditional drum, beaten by yobidashi to announce the beginning of a tournament, and at the end of each day
  2. 2
    A Japanese drum or a performance of several drummers in an ensemble (also called kumi-daiko).

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 太鼓 (たいこ taiko), from 太 (tʰàj, “great”) + 鼓 (kú, “drum”).

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 "taiko"?
"taiko" is spelled T-A-I-K-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtaɪkəʊ/.
What does "taiko" mean?
As a noun, "taiko" means: A traditional drum, beaten by yobidashi to announce the beginning of a tournament, and at the end of each day
How do you pronounce "taiko"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "taiko" is /ˈtaɪkəʊ/. 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 "taiko"?
Borrowed from Japanese 太鼓 (たいこ taiko), from 太 (tʰàj, “great”) + 鼓 (kú, “drum”). 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 "taiko", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

tased#72,815tench#72,820sutta#72,800soper#72,779

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list