ab-
"ab" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ab-” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a prefix - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 3
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - From.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ab- |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Prefix |
| Letters | 3 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ab-” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ab- is 3 letters long, classified as a prefix. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for ab- in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin ab-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo (“off, away”) (English off, of). Doublet of apo- and off-. The correct English form is ab-, spelled A-B--.
Definition
- 1From.
- 2Away from; outside of.
Etymology
From Latin ab-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo (“off, away”) (English off, of). Doublet of apo- and off-.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “ab-”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-B-- - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.