wyvern
/ˈwaɪvən/
"wyvern" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wyvern” is uncommon English (frequency #66,414 among 1,759 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #66,414
- frequency rank, English
- 1,759
- “W” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A draconian creature possessing wings, only two legs and usually a barbed tail.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wyvern · wyvern · English
wyvern · rank #66,414 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #66,414
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,759
- PHOTO-FINISH workwear
Nearest frequency peer: workwear (-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 “wyvern”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- windstorm
windstorm
33,593 corpus weight
- Wolseley
Wolseley
33,590 corpus weight
- workup
workup
33,589 corpus weight
- workwear
workwear
33,588 corpus weight
- wyvern
wyvern
33,587 corpus weight
- yeap
yeap
33,583 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “wyvern” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wyvern |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwaɪvən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #66,414 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “wyvern” in English
Rare enough to double-check
wyvern is uncommon English at frequency #66,414 among 1,759 “W” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwaɪvən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A draconian creature possessing wings, only two legs and usually a barbed tail.".
Zero misspellings are on record for wyvern in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration of Middle English wyver (“viper”), from Old Northern French wivre, from Latin vīpera (“viper; snake, serpent”). Doublet of weever and viper. The correct English form is wyvern, spelled W-Y-V-E-R-N.
Definition
- 1A draconian creature possessing wings, only two legs and usually a barbed tail.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how wyvern appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The jargon of heraldry, its griffins, its moldwarps, its wyverns, and its dragons.
Notions of freedom are tied up in drink / Our ideal life contains a tavern / Where man may sit and talk of or just think / All without fear of the nighted wyvern, / Or yet another tavern where it appears.
Etymology
Alteration of Middle English wyver (“viper”), from Old Northern French wivre, from Latin vīpera (“viper; snake, serpent”). Doublet of weever and viper.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wyvern", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).