tétanos
[ˈt̪et̪anos]
The verdict
“tétanos” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #56,723 among 34,400 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,723
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 34,400
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Contracción involuntaria de los músculos como resultado de impulsos nerviosos que impiden el control muscular.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tétanos |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈt̪et̪anos] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #56,723 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tétanos” sits in Spanish frequency
Rare enough to double-check
tétanos is uncommon Spanish at frequency #56,723 among 34,400 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈt̪et̪anos]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for tétanos in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular Spanish conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct Spanish form is tétanos, spelled T-É-T-A-N-O-S.
Definition
- 1Contracción involuntaria de los músculos como resultado de impulsos nerviosos que impiden el control muscular.
- 2Enfermedad grave que produce fiebre, dolorosos espasmos musculares y a menudo la muerte, causada por la infección de una herida abierta con la bacteria Clostridium tetani, que se encuentra en el suelo y en los intestinos y heces de los animales.
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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “tétanos”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is T-É-T-A-N-O-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈt̪et̪anos] (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
Other uncommon Spanish words near this rank
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.