water buffalo

/ˈwɑtɚˌbʌfəloʊ/

//ˈwɑtɚˌbʌfəloʊ// noun

"water-buffalo" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“water buffalo” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A large ungulate, widely used as a domestic animal in Asia, South America. North Africa and Europe: Bubalus bubalis.

Corpus desk

Index EN-water-buffalo · water buffalo · English

water buffalo · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "W" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for water buffalo
PropertyValue
Headwordwater buffalo
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈwɑtɚˌbʌfəloʊ/
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “water buffalo” in English

water buffaloranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

water buffalo is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwɑtɚˌbʌfəloʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for water buffalo, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is water buffalo, spelled W-A-T-E-R- -B-U-F-F-A-L-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    A large ungulate, widely used as a domestic animal in Asia, South America. North Africa and Europe: Bubalus bubalis.
  2. 2
    A water tank mounted on a trailer to be towed by a motor vehicle.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "water buffalo"?
"water buffalo" is spelled W-A-T-E-R- -B-U-F-F-A-L-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɑtɚˌbʌfəloʊ/.
What does "water buffalo" mean?
As a noun, "water buffalo" means: A large ungulate, widely used as a domestic animal in Asia, South America. North Africa and Europe: Bubalus bubalis.
How do you pronounce "water buffalo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "water buffalo" is /ˈwɑtɚˌbʌfəloʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "water buffalo" come from?
"water buffalo" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list