tamas
"tamas" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tamas” is uncommon English (frequency #74,560 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #74,560
- frequency rank, English
- 27,828
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One of the three gunas in Hindu philosophy, representing things that are inert, resistant, or dark and destructive.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tamas |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #74,560 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tamas” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
tamas is uncommon English at frequency #74,560 among 27,828 “T” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "One of the three gunas in Hindu philosophy, representing things that are inert, resistant, or dark and destructive.".
Zero misspellings are on record for tamas in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Sanskrit तमस् (támas, “darkness”). The correct English form is tamas, spelled T-A-M-A-S.
Definition
- 1One of the three gunas in Hindu philosophy, representing things that are inert, resistant, or dark and destructive.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Sanskrit तमस् (támas, “darkness”).
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 "tamas"?
What does "tamas" mean?
What is the origin of the word "tamas"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “tamas”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-M-A-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.