cobayo

[koˈβ̞aʝo]

/[koˈβ̞aʝo]/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency Spanish
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mamífero roedor sudamericano, estrictamente herbívoro. Pesa alrededor de un kilo, vive en áreas abiertas y utiliza hoyos y madrigueras para ocultarse y protegerse; tienen una longevidad de cuatro a...

Key facts for cobayo
PropertyValue
Headwordcobayo
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[koˈβ̞aʝo]
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cobayo” sits in Spanish frequency

cobayo falls outside the top-100,000 ranked Spanish words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

cobayo is uncommon Spanish outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed [koˈβ̞aʝo]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cobayo, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct Spanish form is cobayo, spelled C-O-B-A-Y-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mamífero roedor sudamericano, estrictamente herbívoro. Pesa alrededor de un kilo, vive en áreas abiertas y utiliza hoyos y madrigueras para ocultarse y protegerse; tienen una longevidad de cuatro a seis años. Los incas domesticaron y criaron estos roedores para aprovechar su carne y su piel. En la actualidad se le cría para usarlo en experimentos científicos y cada vez más, para tenerlos como mascotas.
  2. 2
    Persona utilizada para probar tratamientos, productos químicos o farmacéuticos y observar el resultado o efecto de tales experimentaciones.

Synonyms

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 "cobayo"?
"cobayo" is spelled C-O-B-A-Y-O. The IPA pronunciation is [koˈβ̞aʝo].
What does "cobayo" mean?
As a noun, "cobayo" means: Mamífero roedor sudamericano, estrictamente herbívoro. Pesa alrededor de un kilo, vive en áreas abiertas y utiliza hoyos y madrigueras para ocultarse y protegerse; tienen una longevidad de cuatro a...
How do you pronounce "cobayo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cobayo" is [koˈβ̞aʝo]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cobayo" come from?
"cobayo" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “cobayo”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is C-O-B-A-Y-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [koˈβ̞aʝo] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list