tapir
/ˈteɪpiːə(ɹ)/
"tapir" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tapir” is uncommon English (frequency #67,882 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #67,882
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An odd-toed ungulate of the genus Tapirus with a long prehensile upper lip.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tapir · tapir · English
tapir · rank #67,882 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #67,882
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH Tapp
Nearest frequency peer: Tapp (+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 “tapir”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- taff
taff
32,122 corpus weight
- taffeta
taffeta
32,121 corpus weight
- tapir
tapir
32,119 corpus weight
- Tapp
Tapp
32,118 corpus weight
- Teck
Teck
32,116 corpus weight
- Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa
32,115 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “tapir” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tapir |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈteɪpiːə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #67,882 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tapir” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tapir is uncommon English at frequency #67,882 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈteɪpiːə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An odd-toed ungulate of the genus Tapirus with a long prehensile upper lip.".
tapir doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French tapir, from Old Tupi tapi'ira. The correct English form is tapir, spelled T-A-P-I-R.
Definition
- 1An odd-toed ungulate of the genus Tapirus with a long prehensile upper lip.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how tapir appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Once a dark, clumsy tapir stared at us from a gap in the bushes, and then lumbered away through the forest; once, too, the yellow, sinuous form of a great puma whisked amid the brushwood, and its green, baleful eyes glared hatred at us over its tawny shoulder.
Etymology
Borrowed from French tapir, from Old Tupi tapi'ira.
Synonyms
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tapir", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).