veterinary
/ˈvɛtɪnɹi/
"veterinary" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“veterinary” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,475 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #10,475
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or relating to the medical or surgical treatment of non-human animals, especially domestic and farm animals.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | veterinary |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈvɛtɪnɹi/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #10,475 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “veterinary” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for veterinary is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvɛtɪnɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,475 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Of or relating to the medical or surgical treatment of non-human animals, especially domestic and farm animals.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for veterinary, with forms such as "evterinary", "veetrinary", and "veteirnary". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin veterīnārius, from veterīnus and veterīnae (“cattle;"beasts of burden/of draught"”); compare with veterinarian. The correct English form is veterinary, spelled V-E-T-E-R-I-N-A-R-Y.
Definition
- 1Of or relating to the medical or surgical treatment of non-human animals, especially domestic and farm animals.
Etymology
From Latin veterīnārius, from veterīnus and veterīnae (“cattle;"beasts of burden/of draught"”); compare with veterinarian.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: evterinary,veetrinary,veteirnary,veterianry,veterinarry,veterinaryy,veterinayr,veterinnary,veterinray,veterniary,veterrinary,vetreinary,vetterinary,vteerinary,vveterinary
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of veterinary - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "veterinary"?
What does "veterinary" mean?
What are common misspellings of "veterinary"?
How do you pronounce "veterinary"?
What is the origin of the word "veterinary"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “veterinary”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-T-E-R-I-N-A-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvɛtɪnɹi/ (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.