aide
/eɪd/
"aide" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“aide” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #11,335) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #11,335
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An assistant.
Corpus desk
Index EN-aide · aide · English
aide · rank #11,335 · 3 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,335
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 3 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH allegiance
Nearest frequency peer: allegiance (+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 neighbourhood for “aide”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- abuses
abuses
88,669 corpus weight
- accomplishm…
accomplishment
88,668 corpus weight
- aide
aide
88,666 corpus weight
- allegiance
allegiance
88,665 corpus weight
- apt
apt
88,664 corpus weight
- avatar
avatar
88,662 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “aide” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | aide |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /eɪd/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #11,335 |
| Misspellings tracked | 3 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “aide” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for aide is neighbouring look-alikes ("and", "are", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /eɪd/. Frequency #11,335 among 3,931 “A” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for aide, with forms such as "adie", "aied", and "iade". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "and", "are", "air", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French aide ("aid; assistant", as in aide-de-camp (“field assistant”)). More at aid. The correct English form is aide, spelled A-I-D-E.
Definition
- 1An assistant.
- 2An officer who acts as assistant to a more senior one; an aide-de-camp.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how aide appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The aide rides, along with the president's physician, in the “control car,” third in line in the motorcade.
Weiner and his aides dismissed such talk as idle political insiderism […]
Etymology
Borrowed from French aide ("aid; assistant", as in aide-de-camp (“field assistant”)). More at aid.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- adie
- aied
- iade
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of aide - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "aide"?
What does "aide" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "aide", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "aide". Here's where to go from here.
- "aide" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "and". View pair
- 3 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #11,335 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "A" letter cohort. A–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.