tartar

/ˈtɑɹ.tɚ/

//ˈtɑɹ.tɚ// noun

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

"tartar" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tartar” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,874. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,874
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A red compound deposited during wine making, mostly potassium hydrogen tartrate; wine stone — a source of cream of tartar.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tartar · tartar · English

tartar · rank #33,874 · 9 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,874
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Tavares

Nearest frequency peer: Tavares (+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 “tartar”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “tartar” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tartar vs tata
67% similar
tartar vs tarts
67% similar
tartar vs Tatar
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tartar
PropertyValue
Headwordtartar
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɑɹ.tɚ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#33,874
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tartar”

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).tartarlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Tavares” (#33,875), “tactically” (#33,872), “telepathy” (#33,876). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tartar” is #33,874. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around tartar (IPA /ˈtɑɹ.tɚ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #33,874 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for tartar, with forms such as "atrtar", "taratr", and "tarrtar". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "tata", "tarts", "Tatar", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French tartre, from Medieval Latin tartarum, from Byzantine Greek τάρταρον (tártaron), said to be from Arabic دُرْدِيّ (durdiyy), though it is already found in Pelagonius’s Ars veterinaria 46 in the adjective tartarālis, if the reading is correct. … The correct English form is tartar, spelled T-A-R-T-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A red compound deposited during wine making, mostly potassium hydrogen tartrate; wine stone — a source of cream of tartar.
  2. 2
    A hard yellow deposit on the teeth, formed from dental plaque.

Etymology

From Old French tartre, from Medieval Latin tartarum, from Byzantine Greek τάρταρον (tártaron), said to be from Arabic دُرْدِيّ (durdiyy), though it is already found in Pelagonius’s Ars veterinaria 46 in the adjective tartarālis, if the reading is correct. Arabic etymon from Persian درد (dord, “dreg”) from Proto-Iranian *dr̥ti- (“manure, feces”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰṛ-to-, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreyd- (“to have diarrhea”), whence also doublet of dirt.

This word in other languages

tártaro(Español)tartre(Français)Weinstein(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • atrtar
  • taratr
  • tarrtar
  • tartarr
  • tartra
  • tarttar
  • tatrar
  • tratar
  • ttartar

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tartar - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

atrtar2taratr2tarrtar1tartarr1tartra2tarttar1tatrar2tratar2
Edit distance from "tartar"

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 "tartar"?
"tartar" is spelled T-A-R-T-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɑɹ.tɚ/.
What does "tartar" mean?
As a noun, "tartar" means: A red compound deposited during wine making, mostly potassium hydrogen tartrate; wine stone — a source of cream of tartar.
What words are commonly confused with "tartar"?
"tartar" is commonly confused with "tata", "tarts", "Tatar". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tartar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tartar" is /ˈtɑɹ.tɚ/. 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 "tartar"?
From Old French tartre, from Medieval Latin tartarum, from Byzantine Greek τάρταρον (tártaron), said to be from Arabic دُرْدِيّ (durdiyy), though it is already found in Pelagonius’s Ars veterinaria 46 in the adjective tartarālis, if the reading is... 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 "tartar", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

thorax#33,880strode#33,861snowed#33,853unsold#33,899

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

tugging9 variantssonnets9 variantsshaven9 variantsruckus9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list