tantalum
/ˈtæntələm/
"tantalum" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tantalum” is uncommon English (frequency #56,480 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,480
- frequency rank, English
- 27,828
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A chemical element (symbol Ta) with atomic number 73: a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion-resistant.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tantalum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtæntələm/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #56,480 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tantalum” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
tantalum is uncommon English at frequency #56,480 among 27,828 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtæntələm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A chemical element (symbol Ta) with atomic number 73: a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion-resistant.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for tantalum in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: A New Latin word derived by Swedish chemist Anders Gustaf Ekeberg in 1802, from Latin Tantalus, named after Tantalus, alluding to the element's incapacity to absorb acid. See -ium. The correct English form is tantalum, spelled T-A-N-T-A-L-U-M.
Definition
- 1A chemical element (symbol Ta) with atomic number 73: a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion-resistant.
Etymology
A New Latin word derived by Swedish chemist Anders Gustaf Ekeberg in 1802, from Latin Tantalus, named after Tantalus, alluding to the element's incapacity to absorb acid. See -ium.
This word in other languages
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 “tantalum”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-N-T-A-L-U-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtæntələm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.