verbena

/vɚˈbinə/

//vɚˈbinə// noun

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

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

The verdict

“verbena” is uncommon English (frequency #67,149 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,149
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Verbena, a genus of herbaceous plants of which several species are extensively cultivated for the great beauty of their flowers; vervain.

Corpus desk

Index EN-verbena · verbena · English

verbena · rank #67,149 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,149
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH velar

Nearest frequency peer: velar (-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 “verbena”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for verbena
PropertyValue
Headwordverbena
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/vɚˈbinə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#67,149
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “verbena” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).verbenafalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “velar” (#67,148), “vigilantism” (#67,151), “Vaux” (#67,146). Among 969 “V” headwords, “verbena” is #67,149. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

verbena is uncommon English at frequency #67,149 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /vɚˈbinə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Verbena, a genus of herbaceous plants of which several species are extensively cultivated for the great beauty of their flowers; vervain.".

No misspelling variants are generated for verbena in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin verbēna (“leaves or twigs of olive, myrtle, laurel, or other sacred plants employed in religious ceremonies”), from Proto-Indo-European *werbʰ-. Doublet of vervain, via French. The correct English form is verbena, spelled V-E-R-B-E-N-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Verbena, a genus of herbaceous plants of which several species are extensively cultivated for the great beauty of their flowers; vervain.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Linda pulled a piece of verbena and crumpled it, and held her hands to her mother. -
  2. Hidden behind a large stone urn full of verbena, Dottie watched as her enemy greeted Johnny at the door.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin verbēna (“leaves or twigs of olive, myrtle, laurel, or other sacred plants employed in religious ceremonies”), from Proto-Indo-European *werbʰ-. Doublet of vervain, via French.

This word in other languages

verbena(Español)verveine(Français)Eisenkraut(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 "verbena"?
"verbena" is spelled V-E-R-B-E-N-A. The IPA pronunciation is /vɚˈbinə/.
What does "verbena" mean?
As a noun, "verbena" means: Verbena, a genus of herbaceous plants of which several species are extensively cultivated for the great beauty of their flowers; vervain.
How do you pronounce "verbena"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "verbena" is /vɚˈbinə/. 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 "verbena"?
Borrowed from Latin verbēna (“leaves or twigs of olive, myrtle, laurel, or other sacred plants employed in religious ceremonies”), from Proto-Indo-European *werbʰ-. Doublet of vervain, via French. 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 "verbena", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

unwound#67,135Whalley#67,167widener#67,170Wofford#67,176

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list