wolfsbane
/ˈwʊlfsbeɪn/
"wolfsbane" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wolfsbane” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of several poisonous perennial herbs of the genus Aconitum.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wolfsbane · wolfsbane · English
wolfsbane · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wolfsbane |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwʊlfsbeɪn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “wolfsbane” in English
Rare enough to double-check
wolfsbane is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwʊlfsbeɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for wolfsbane in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From wolf + -s- + bane, a calque of Ancient Greek λυκοκτόνον (lukoktónon), from λύκος (lúkos, “wolf”) + κτείνω (kteínō, “I kill”). Influenced by Latin lycoctonum. The correct English form is wolfsbane, spelled W-O-L-F-S-B-A-N-E.
Definition
- 1Any of several poisonous perennial herbs of the genus Aconitum.
- 2Arnica montana.
Etymology
From wolf + -s- + bane, a calque of Ancient Greek λυκοκτόνον (lukoktónon), from λύκος (lúkos, “wolf”) + κτείνω (kteínō, “I kill”). Influenced by Latin lycoctonum.
Synonyms
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.