tailbone

/ˈteɪlˌbəʊn/

//ˈteɪlˌbəʊn// noun

"tailbone" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tailbone” is uncommon English (frequency #84,815 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,815
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The final fused vertebrae at the base of the spine; the coccyx.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tailbone · tailbone · English

tailbone · rank #84,815 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,815
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Tameside

Nearest frequency peer: Tameside (+3 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 “tailbone”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tailbone
PropertyValue
Headwordtailbone
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈteɪlˌbəʊn/
Letters8
Frequency rank#84,815
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tailbone” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).tailbonefalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Tameside” (#84,818), “Tawney” (#84,820), “terabyte” (#84,823). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tailbone” is #84,815. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tailbone is uncommon English at frequency #84,815 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈteɪlˌbəʊn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The final fused vertebrae at the base of the spine; the coccyx.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tailbone, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. 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 tail + bone. The correct English form is tailbone, spelled T-A-I-L-B-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The final fused vertebrae at the base of the spine; the coccyx.

Etymology

From tail + bone.

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 "tailbone"?
"tailbone" is spelled T-A-I-L-B-O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈteɪlˌbəʊn/.
What does "tailbone" mean?
As a noun, "tailbone" means: The final fused vertebrae at the base of the spine; the coccyx.
How do you pronounce "tailbone"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tailbone" is /ˈteɪlˌbəʊn/. 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 "tailbone"?
From tail + bone. 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 "tailbone", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list