tyke
/taɪk/
"tyke" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tyke” is uncommon English (frequency #80,071 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #80,071
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mongrel dog.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tyke · tyke · English
tyke · rank #80,071 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #80,071
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH tweeps
Nearest frequency peer: tweeps (-2 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “tyke”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- tsundere
tsundere
19,939 corpus weight
- tule
tule
19,938 corpus weight
- tweaker
tweaker
19,933 corpus weight
- tweeps
tweeps
19,932 corpus weight
- tyke
tyke
19,930 corpus weight
- ulema
ulema
19,924 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “tyke” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tyke |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /taɪk/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #80,071 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tyke” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
tyke is uncommon English at frequency #80,071 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /taɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for tyke, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tike, tyke, from Old Norse tík (“female dog”), from Proto-Germanic *tīkō. Compare Icelandic tík, Faroese tík, and Swedish tik, all meaning “bitch, female dog”. The correct English form is tyke, spelled T-Y-K-E.
Definition
- 1A mongrel dog.
- 2A small child, especially a cheeky or mischievous one.
- 3A small child, especially a cheeky or mischievous one.
- 4An uncultured, crude and unrefined or uncouth ill-bred person.
- 5A person from Yorkshire; a Yorkshireman or Yorkshirewoman.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tyke appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It was the day of warlocks and apparitions, now happily driven out by the zeal of the General Assembly. Witches pursued their wanchancy calling, bairns were spirited away, young lassies selled their souls to the Evil One, and the Accuser of the Brethren, in the shape of a black tyke, was seen about cottage doors in the gloaming.
Manipulative little tyke I was.
Etymology
From Middle English tike, tyke, from Old Norse tík (“female dog”), from Proto-Germanic *tīkō. Compare Icelandic tík, Faroese tík, and Swedish tik, all meaning “bitch, female dog”.
Synonyms
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); 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tyke", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "tyke". Here's where to go from here.
- Usage frequency rank #80,071 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "T" letter cohort. T–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.