aks

/æks/

//æks// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"aks" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“aks” is uncommon English (frequency #53,994 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,994
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To ask.

Corpus desk

Index EN-aks · aks · English

aks · rank #53,994 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,994
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Aishwarya

Nearest frequency peer: Aishwarya (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “aks”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “aks” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for aks
PropertyValue
Headwordaks
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/æks/
Letters3
Frequency rank#53,994
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “aks” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).aksfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Aishwarya” (#53,993), “alphabetic” (#53,996), “altimeter” (#53,997). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “aks” is #53,994. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

aks is uncommon English at frequency #53,994 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /æks/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To ask.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for aks, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old English acsian (“ask”); see ax for more. The correct English form is aks, spelled A-K-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    To ask.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Another thing, kid, don't aks me no more questions tonight.

Etymology

From Old English acsian (“ask”); see ax for more.

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 "aks"?
"aks" is spelled A-K-S. The IPA pronunciation is /æks/.
What does "aks" mean?
As a verb, "aks" means: To ask.
How do you pronounce "aks"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "aks" is /æks/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "aks"?
From Old English acsian (“ask”); see ax for more. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "aks", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ASN#54,021zod#53,966Zan#53,964VOA#53,943

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list