tyke
/taɪk/
"tyke" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tyke” is an uncommon English word, ranked #80,071 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #80,071
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A mongrel dog.
| 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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tyke is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /taɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #80,071 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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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Using “tyke”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-Y-K-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /taɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.