ana

/ˈæ.nə/

//ˈæ.nə// noun

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

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

The verdict

“ana” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8,386) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8,386
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A collection of things associated with a person or place, especially a personal collection of anecdotes or conversations at table

Corpus desk

Index EN-ana · ana · English

ana · rank #8,386 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,386
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH alumni

Nearest frequency peer: alumni (-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 “ana”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “ana” 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).

ana vs as
33% similar
ana vs at
33% similar
ana vs AP
0% similar

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

Key facts for ana
PropertyValue
Headwordana
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈæ.nə/
Letters3
Frequency rank#8,386
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “ana”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “alumni” (#8,385), “awhile” (#8,387), “Allah” (#8,384). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “ana” is #8,386. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ana is neighbouring look-alikes ("as", "at", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈæ.nə/. Frequency #8,386 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Gloss: "A collection of things associated with a person or place, especially a personal collection of anecdotes or conversations at table".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for ana, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "as", "at", "AP", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Formed from the Latin suffix -ana; compare ism (from -ism), itis (from -itis), phobia (from -phobia). The correct English form is ana, spelled A-N-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A collection of things associated with a person or place, especially a personal collection of anecdotes or conversations at table

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The FRENCH ANAS, or Selections from the best of the French Anas, interspersed with biographical sketches. In three elegant Volumes, small 8vo. price 15s. boards
  2. Jefferson was aware of the literary tradition of anas, which extended back at least as far as Athenaeus's Dipnosophistarum, a delightful collection of table talk from ancient times covering a variety of subjects including law, literature, medicine, and philosophy.

Etymology

Formed from the Latin suffix -ana; compare ism (from -ism), itis (from -itis), phobia (from -phobia).

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 "ana"?
"ana" is spelled A-N-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈæ.nə/.
What does "ana" mean?
As a noun, "ana" means: A collection of things associated with a person or place, especially a personal collection of anecdotes or conversations at table
What words are commonly confused with "ana"?
"ana" is commonly confused with "as", "at", "AP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ana"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ana" is /ˈæ.nə/. 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 "ana"?
Formed from the Latin suffix -ana; compare ism (from -ism), itis (from -itis), phobia (from -phobia). 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 "ana", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

aye#8,388vet#8,376cod#8,399cuz#8,407

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list