8

/eɪt/

//eɪt// verb

"8" is a 0-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“8” sits in 4 confusable pairs (corpus #312) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#312
frequency rank, English
1
letter
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Abbreviation of ate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-8 · 8 · English

8 · rank #312 · 0 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #312
  • LEN-SHORT 1 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "8" thin
  • PHOTO-FINISH service

Nearest frequency peer: service (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “8”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “8” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

8 vs 8th
33% similar
8 vs eight
0% similar
8 vs ate
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for 8
PropertyValue
Headword8
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/eɪt/
Letters1
Frequency rank#312
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “8”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).8lands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “service” (#311), “country” (#313), “says” (#310). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for 8 is neighbouring look-alikes ("8th", "eight", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /eɪt/. Frequency #312. Gloss: "Abbreviation of ate.".

8 doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "8th", "eight", "ate", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is 8, spelled 8.

Definition

  1. 1
    Abbreviation of ate.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how 8 appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. i 8 it — I ate it.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "8"?
"8" is spelled 8. The IPA pronunciation is /eɪt/.
What does "8" mean?
As a verb, "8" means: Abbreviation of ate.
What words are commonly confused with "8"?
"8" is commonly confused with "8th", "eight", "ate". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "8"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "8" is /eɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "8" come from?
"8" is a English 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list