tempura

/ˈtɛmpʊɹə/

//ˈtɛmpʊɹə// noun

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

"tempura" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tempura” is uncommon English (frequency #53,907 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,907
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A Japanese dish made by deep-frying vegetables, seafood, or other foods in a light batter.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tempura · tempura · English

tempura · rank #53,907 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,907
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tempestuous

Nearest frequency peer: tempestuous (-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 “tempura”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tempura
PropertyValue
Headwordtempura
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɛmpʊɹə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#53,907
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tempura” 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).tempurafalls 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: “tempestuous” (#53,906), “telemarketing” (#53,905), “Theophilus” (#53,909). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tempura” is #53,907. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tempura is uncommon English at frequency #53,907 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtɛmpʊɹə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A Japanese dish made by deep-frying vegetables, seafood, or other foods in a light batter.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for tempura, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 天(てん)麩(ぷ)羅(ら) (tenpura), from Portuguese, ultimately from Latin. Different dictionaries link two different original terms: * Portuguese tempero (“seasoning”) or tempera (“he/she/it seasons; season!”), third-person present singular or … The correct English form is tempura, spelled T-E-M-P-U-R-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A Japanese dish made by deep-frying vegetables, seafood, or other foods in a light batter.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The Chicken Big Mac is similar to its beefy sibling; however, it replaces the two burgers with two tempura chicken patties.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 天(てん)麩(ぷ)羅(ら) (tenpura), from Portuguese, ultimately from Latin. Different dictionaries link two different original terms: * Portuguese tempero (“seasoning”) or tempera (“he/she/it seasons; season!”), third-person present singular or imperative tense of temperar (“to season, to temper”), from Latin temperare (“to mix, to temper”). * Portuguese têmpora (“Ember days”), from Latin tempora, plural of tempus (“time; period”). When Portuguese explorers (mostly Jesuit missionaries) arrived in Japan, they abstained from eating beef, pork, and poultry during the Ember days, a Catholic series of holidays. Instead, they ate fried vegetables and fish. This was the first contact of the Japanese with fried food, and since then they began associating the Portuguese word têmpora (which they pronounced tenpura) with such food.

This word in other languages

tempura(Español)tempura(Français)Tempura(Deutsch)

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 "tempura"?
"tempura" is spelled T-E-M-P-U-R-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɛmpʊɹə/.
What does "tempura" mean?
As a noun, "tempura" means: A Japanese dish made by deep-frying vegetables, seafood, or other foods in a light batter.
How do you pronounce "tempura"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tempura" is /ˈtɛmpʊɹə/. 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 "tempura"?
Borrowed from Japanese 天(てん)麩(ぷ)羅(ら) (tenpura), from Portuguese, ultimately from Latin. Different dictionaries link two different original terms: * Portuguese tempero (“seasoning”) or tempera (“he/she/it seasons; season!”), third-person present si... 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 "tempura", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

stiffen#53,879Stavros#53,877stammer#53,874Staines#53,872

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list