tarantula
/təˈɹæn.t͡ʃʊ.lə/
"tarantula" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tarantula” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,922. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #40,922
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the large, hairy New World spiders comprising the family Theraphosidae.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tarantula · tarantula · English
tarantula · rank #40,922 · 13 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-MID #40,922
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH Tanzanian
Nearest frequency peer: Tanzanian (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “tarantula”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- systolic
systolic
59,083 corpus weight
- Takeda
Takeda
59,082 corpus weight
- tanking
tanking
59,081 corpus weight
- Tanzanian
Tanzanian
59,080 corpus weight
- tarantula
tarantula
59,079 corpus weight
- tern
tern
59,078 corpus weight
What this shows “tarantula” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tarantula |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /təˈɹæn.t͡ʃʊ.lə/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #40,922 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tarantula”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around tarantula (IPA /təˈɹæn.t͡ʃʊ.lə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #40,922 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for tarantula, with forms such as "atrantula", "taarntula", and "taranntula". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Medieval Latin tarantula, from Old Italian tarantola, from Taranto (“seaport in southern Italy”), from Latin Tarentum (“Latin name of the town”), from Ancient Greek Τάρᾱς (Tárās, “Greek name of the town”), genitive Τᾰ́ρᾰντος; compare Modern Greek Τάραν… The correct English form is tarantula, spelled T-A-R-A-N-T-U-L-A.
Definition
- 1Any of the large, hairy New World spiders comprising the family Theraphosidae.
- 2A member of certain other groups of spiders, generally characterized by large size, hairiness, or membership of infraorder Mygalomorphae to which Theraphosidae family also belongs.
- 3A species of wolf spider, Lycosa tarantula, native to southern Europe, the mildly poisonous bite of which was once thought to cause an extreme urge to dance (tarantism).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tarantula appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Cockroaches, centipedes, tarantulas, scorpions, and mosquitoes are abundant in summer. [...] Tarantulas and scorpions are little noticed by those who have been there any length of time.
In the southern portions of the State we have met with specimens of brown tarantula weighing a full Troy ounce, but these were of unusual size. The wood tarantula is the largest of all, occasional specimens weighing an ounce and a half, inhabits dead wood, is very active on a warm day, is found of sunning himself, and is quite courageous, leaping on a lar…
Etymology
From Medieval Latin tarantula, from Old Italian tarantola, from Taranto (“seaport in southern Italy”), from Latin Tarentum (“Latin name of the town”), from Ancient Greek Τάρᾱς (Tárās, “Greek name of the town”), genitive Τᾰ́ρᾰντος; compare Modern Greek Τάραντας (Tárantas) and Tarantino Tarde. probably from Illyrian *darandos (“oak”). Sense 3 (“Lycosa tarantula”) is the original sense of the word, and refers to the fact that the spider was common in the Apulia region where Taranto is located. Sense 1 (“New World spider in the family Theraphosidae”), the main modern sense of the word, may have been a transferred use of Spanish tarántula (“tarantula (Lycosa tarantula)”) to describe large, hairy spiders found in the New World.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- atrantula
- taarntula
- taranntula
- tarantlua
- taranttula
- tarantual
- tarantulla
- taranutla
- taratnula
- tarnatula
- tarrantula
- traantula
- ttarantula
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tarantula - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "tarantula"?
What does "tarantula" mean?
What are common misspellings of "tarantula"?
How do you pronounce "tarantula"?
What is the origin of the word "tarantula"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tarantula", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).