across
/əˈkɹɒs/
"across" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“across” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #556 in English word frequency and used as a preposition.
- #556
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To, toward, or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | across |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Preposition |
| IPA | /əˈkɹɒs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #556 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “across” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for across is 6 letters long, classified as a preposition, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈkɹɒs/. Corpus data places it at rank #556 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for across, with forms such as "accross", "acorss", and "acros". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "arose", "arrows", "aprons", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree ▲ Proto-Indo-European *h₁en- Proto-Indo-European *h₁en- Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Old Latin en Latin in Old French en Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Latin crux Old French crois Anglo-Norman an croizbor. Middle English acro… The correct English form is across, spelled A-C-R-O-S-S.
Definition
- 1To, toward, or from the far side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
- 2On the opposite side of (something that lies between two points of interest).
- 3across from: on the opposite side, relative to something that lies between, from (a point of interest).
- 4From one side to the other within (a space being traversed).
- 5At or near the far end of (a space).
- 6Spanning.
- 7Throughout.
- 8So as to intersect or pass through or over at an angle.
- 9In possession of full, up-to-date information about; abreast of.
Etymology
Etymology tree ▲ Proto-Indo-European *h₁en- Proto-Indo-European *h₁en- Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Old Latin en Latin in Old French en Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.? Latin crux Old French crois Anglo-Norman an croizbor. Middle English acros English across From Middle English acros, from early Middle English a-croiz, a-creoyz, from Anglo-Norman an (“in, on”) + croiz (“in the form of a cross”). More at cross. By surface analysis, a- + cross.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: accross,acorss,acros,acrross,acrsos,arcoss,caross
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of across - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “across”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-C-R-O-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈkɹɒs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “arose” - see the side-by-side comparison. across vs arose
- 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.