tuna
/ˈtjuː.nə/
"tuna" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tuna” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,345 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,345
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several species of fish of the genus Thunnus in the family Scombridae.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tuna |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtjuː.nə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #12,345 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tuna” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tuna is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtjuː.nə/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,345 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for tuna, with forms such as "tnua", "ttuna", and "tunna". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tut", "tux", "TWA", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Arabic اَلْ (al-) Phoenicianbor. Ancient Greek θῠ́ννος (thŭ́nnos)bor. Latin thunnusbor. Arabic تُنّ (tunn) Arabic اَلتُّنّ (at-tunn) Andalusian Arabic [Term?]bor. Old Spanish atun Spanish atúnder. United States Spanish tunabor. English tuna B… The correct English form is tuna, spelled T-U-N-A.
Definition
- 1Any of several species of fish of the genus Thunnus in the family Scombridae.
- 2The edible flesh of the tuna.
Etymology
Etymology tree Arabic اَلْ (al-) Phoenicianbor. Ancient Greek θῠ́ννος (thŭ́nnos)bor. Latin thunnusbor. Arabic تُنّ (tunn) Arabic اَلتُّنّ (at-tunn) Andalusian Arabic [Term?]bor. Old Spanish atun Spanish atúnder. United States Spanish tunabor. English tuna Borrowed from United States Spanish tuna, alteration of Spanish atún, from Arabic اَلتُّنّ (at-tunn, “tuna”), from Latin thunnus, itself from Ancient Greek θύννος (thúnnos). Possibly in the sense of "darter" from thynein "to dart along". Doublet of tonno.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: tnua,ttuna,tunna,utna
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tuna - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Using “tuna”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-U-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtjuː.nə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tut” - see the side-by-side comparison. tuna vs tut
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.