tatter
/ˈtætə(ɹ)/
"tatter" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tatter” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A shred of torn cloth; an individual item of torn and ragged clothing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tatter · tatter · English
tatter · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tatter |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtætə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tatter” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tatter is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtætə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A shred of torn cloth; an individual item of torn and ragged clothing.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for tatter in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tater, from Old Norse tǫturr, from Proto-Germanic *tat(t)uraz (“tuft, patch”). Cognate with Icelandic tötur (“rag, tatter”). The correct English form is tatter, spelled T-A-T-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1A shred of torn cloth; an individual item of torn and ragged clothing.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how tatter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
You can’t – you shan’t – you don’t – you won’t – you thing of rag and tatter, O!
Etymology
From Middle English tater, from Old Norse tǫturr, from Proto-Germanic *tat(t)uraz (“tuft, patch”). Cognate with Icelandic tötur (“rag, tatter”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.