zoo

/zuː/

//zuː// noun

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

"zoo" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“zoo” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5,750) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#5,750
frequency rank, English
265
“Z” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A park where live animals are exhibited.

Corpus desk

Index EN-zoo · zoo · English

zoo · rank #5,750 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,750
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 265
  • PHOTO-FINISH wrestling

Nearest frequency peer: wrestling (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “zoo”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “zoo” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

zoo vs zoom
75% similar
zoo vs zorro
60% similar
zoo vs Zooey
40% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for zoo
PropertyValue
Headwordzoo
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/zuː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#5,750
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “zoo”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).zoolands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “wrestling” (#5,749), “accordance” (#5,751), “Vincent” (#5,748). Among 265 “Z” headwords, “zoo” is #5,750. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for zoo is neighbouring look-alikes ("zoom", "zorro", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /zuː/. Frequency #5,750 among 265 “Z” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for zoo, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "zoom", "zorro", "Zooey", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of zoological garden or zoological park, now the usual form. See zoology. Sense 5 is a clipping of zoophile or zoophilia. The correct English form is zoo, spelled Z-O-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    A park where live animals are exhibited.
  2. 2
    Any place that is wild, crowded, or chaotic.
  3. 3
    A large and varied collection of something.
  4. 4
    The jungle.
  5. 5
    Clipping of zoophile.
  6. 6
    Clipping of zoophile.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The London Zoo was built in 1828.
  2. The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile. Only the city zoo offers greater species diversity.

Etymology

Clipping of zoological garden or zoological park, now the usual form. See zoology. Sense 5 is a clipping of zoophile or zoophilia.

This word in other languages

zoo(Español)zoo(Français)Zoo(Deutsch)zoológico(Português)

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 "zoo"?
"zoo" is spelled Z-O-O. The IPA pronunciation is /zuː/.
What does "zoo" mean?
As a noun, "zoo" means: A park where live animals are exhibited.
What words are commonly confused with "zoo"?
"zoo" is commonly confused with "zoom", "zorro", "Zooey". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "zoo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zoo" is /zuː/. 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 "zoo"?
Clipping of zoological garden or zoological park, now the usual form. See zoology. Sense 5 is a clipping of zoophile or zoophilia. 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 "zoo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

rod#5,731pig#5,724lip#5,808MUD#5,815

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list