tapeworm

/ˈteɪpˌwɝm/

//ˈteɪpˌwɝm// noun

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

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

The verdict

“tapeworm” is uncommon English (frequency #52,036 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,036
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any parasitical worm of the class or infraclass Cestoda, which infests the intestines of animals, including humans, often infecting different host species during their life cycle.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tapeworm · tapeworm · English

tapeworm · rank #52,036 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,036
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tallis

Nearest frequency peer: tallis (-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 “tapeworm”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tapeworm
PropertyValue
Headwordtapeworm
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈteɪpˌwɝm/
Letters8
Frequency rank#52,036
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tapeworm” 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).tapewormfalls 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: “tallis” (#52,035), “talc” (#52,034), “Teesside” (#52,038). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tapeworm” is #52,036. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tapeworm is uncommon English at frequency #52,036 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈteɪpˌwɝm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for tapeworm in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From tape + worm. The correct English form is tapeworm, spelled T-A-P-E-W-O-R-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any parasitical worm of the class or infraclass Cestoda, which infests the intestines of animals, including humans, often infecting different host species during their life cycle.
  2. 2
    Any parasitical worm of the class or infraclass Cestoda, which infests the intestines of animals, including humans, often infecting different host species during their life cycle.
  3. 3
    Infection by tapeworms.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. We used to have a lot of tapeworm down in my neck of the woods, but we don't have much now.

Etymology

From tape + worm.

Synonyms

cestode

This word in other languages

tenia(Español)ver solitaire(Français)Bandwurm(Deutsch)tênia(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 "tapeworm"?
"tapeworm" is spelled T-A-P-E-W-O-R-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈteɪpˌwɝm/.
What does "tapeworm" mean?
As a noun, "tapeworm" means: Any parasitical worm of the class or infraclass Cestoda, which infests the intestines of animals, including humans, often infecting different host species during their life cycle.
How do you pronounce "tapeworm"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tapeworm" is /ˈteɪpˌwɝm/. 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 "tapeworm"?
From tape + worm. 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 "tapeworm", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Teesside#52,038subsonic#52,027spurring#52,017unleaded#52,071

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list