English homophones
ax/axe
"axe" (#9,703 written frequency) beats "ax" (#18,489) in this 2-word /æks/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /æks/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "axe" leads at #9,703, with "ax" trailing at #18,489.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "ax" then splits - "ax" (2 letters) vs "axe" (3).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across ax, axe: ax. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
ax
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape VC
Inventory ax · no private letters vs siblings
axe
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape VCV
Inventory aex · private e
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "ax" when you mean: US standard spelling of axe.
- Write "axe" when you mean: A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc. consisting of a heavy head flattened to a blade on one side, and a handle attached to it.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (ax, axe). Here's where to go from here.
- "axe" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #9,703 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: oral · aural. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "ax, axe" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.