The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
TREPANATION
Definition of TREPANATION
noun
The practice of drilling a hole in the skull as a physical, mental, or spiritual treatment.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From New Latin trepanatio, formed from French trépan (“a drill”), itself from Latin trepanum, ultimately from Ancient Greek τρύπανον (trúpanon, “an auger, a drill”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Ancient Greek
- French
- Latin
- English
3 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.4%
of traced words share this origin (10,375)
branch · 12.4% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
TREPANATION in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 154, 21 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 16 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 154, 21 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
TREPANATION starts with T and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AAEINNOPRTT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. T, A and N appear more than once.
Words that start TREPANA
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found TREPANATION?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 154 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER