hippopotame

\i.po.po.tam\

/\i.po.po.tam\/ noun

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

The verdict

“hippopotame” has 14 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #34,116. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,116
frequency rank, French
1,969
“H” headwords
14
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Très gros mammifère quadrupède amphibie herbivore d’Afrique, qui vit le jour dans l’eau douce (fleuves et rivières) et broute la nuit.

Corpus desk

Index FR-hippopotame · hippopotame · French

hippopotame · rank #34,116 · 14 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,116
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,969
  • PHOTO-FINISH heaven

Nearest frequency peer: heaven (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « hippopotame »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « hippopotame » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hippopotame
PropertyValue
Headwordhippopotame
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\i.po.po.tam\
Letters11
Frequency rank#34,116
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « hippopotame »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.hippopotamese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « heaven » (#34,115), « hivernales » (#34,117), « HDMI » (#34,114). Parmi 1,969 lemmes en « H », « hippopotame » est au #34,116. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around hippopotame (IPA \i.po.po.tam\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #34,116 among 1,969 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for hippopotame, with forms such as "hhippopotame", "hipopotame", and "hipoppotame". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is hippopotame, spelled H-I-P-P-O-P-O-T-A-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Très gros mammifère quadrupède amphibie herbivore d’Afrique, qui vit le jour dans l’eau douce (fleuves et rivières) et broute la nuit.
  2. 2
    Très gros mammifère quadrupède amphibie herbivore d’Afrique, qui vit le jour dans l’eau douce (fleuves et rivières) et broute la nuit.
  3. 3
    Terme superlatif dont on affuble des grosses personnes, des gros animaux.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Son regard cherchait sur la rivière en amont. Depuis trois ans, un hippopotame vivait de ce côté et on en était arrivé à en parler comme d’un animal domestique.
  2. Les zones humides du parc, notamment le canal de Kazinga, grouillent également d’hippopotames et de crocodiles.

Synonyms

bœuf marincheval marin

This word in other languages

hippo(English)hipopótamo(Español)Flusspferd(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhippopotame
  • hipopotame
  • hipoppotame
  • hippooptame
  • hippopoatme
  • hippopotaem
  • hippopotamme
  • hippopotmae
  • hippopottame
  • hippoppotame
  • hippoptoame
  • hipppootame
  • hpipopotame
  • ihppopotame

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hippopotame - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

hhippopotame1hipopotame1hipoppotame2hippooptame2hippopoatme2hippopotaem2hippopotamme1hippopotmae2
Edit distance from "hippopotame"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hippopotame"?
"hippopotame" is spelled H-I-P-P-O-P-O-T-A-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is \i.po.po.tam\.
What does "hippopotame" mean?
As a noun, "hippopotame" means: Très gros mammifère quadrupède amphibie herbivore d’Afrique, qui vit le jour dans l’eau douce (fleuves et rivières) et broute la nuit.
What are common misspellings of "hippopotame"?
Common misspellings include "hhippopotame", "hipopotame", "hipoppotame", "hippooptame", "hippopoatme". The correct spelling is "hippopotame".
How do you pronounce "hippopotame"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hippopotame" is \i.po.po.tam\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hippopotame" come from?
"hippopotame" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hippopotame", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hongkongais#34,118hétéroclite#34,125initiateurs#34,138empoisonnée#34,081

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

grincheux14 variantshébergeur14 variantsincarnant14 variantsestimaient14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list