etaoin shrdlu
/ˈɛtiɔɪn ˈʃɜːrdluː/
etaoin shrdlu noun: nonsense, filler text (dummy text), or an example of accidental typing (typo).
Noun
etaoin shrdlu (plural etaoin shrdlus)
- Nonsense, filler text (dummy text), or an example of accidental typing (typo).
- You can see why compositors reflexively filled lines to be corrected with etaoin shrdlus.1989, Alex Brown, In print: text and type, page 137
Forms of etaoin shrdlu
| plural | etaoin shrdlus |
|---|---|
| alternative form | etaoin |
| alternative form | etaoin shrdlu cmfwyp |
| alternative form | shrdlu |
| alternative form | shrdlu etaoin |
| alternative form | etaoinshrdlu |
| alternative form | etaoinshrdlcumwfgypbvkjxqz |
Origin of etaoin shrdlu
From the arrangement of letters on the keyboard of a linotype machine: typesetters would mark errors by running their fingers across the keys, and the results would sometimes accidentally find their way into print. The letters in the string are, approximately, the 12 most commonly used letters in the English language, ordered by their frequency, which drove the design of the linotype keyboard.
Questions about etaoin shrdlu
- What does etaoin shrdlu mean?
- Etaoin shrdlu means nonsense, filler text (dummy text), or an example of accidental typing (typo).
- What part of speech is etaoin shrdlu?
- Etaoin shrdlu is a noun.
- How do you pronounce etaoin shrdlu?
- Etaoin shrdlu is pronounced /ˈɛtiɔɪn ˈʃɜːrdluː/.
- What is the plural of etaoin shrdlu?
- The plural of etaoin shrdlu is etaoin shrdlus.
Words near etaoin shrdlu in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: etaoin shrdlu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “etaoin shrdlu.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/etaoin_shrdlu. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.