anchor
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "anchor", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "anchor" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "anchor" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
anchor is aEnglishnoun. It means: A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement. Pronounced /ˈæŋ.kə/. It ranks #6,862 in English word frequency. Often confused with author and archer.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | anchor |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæŋ.kə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,862 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for anchor is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæŋ.kə/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,862 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 22 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for anchor, with forms such as "acnhor", "ancchor", and "anchhor". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "author", "archer", "anyhow", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂enk-der.? Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́γκῡρᾰ (ắnkūră)bor.? Latin ancorabor. Proto-Germanic *ankurô Proto-West Germanic *ankurō Old English ancor Middle English anker English anchor From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor,… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is anchor, spelled A-N-C-H-O-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement.
- 2An iron device so shaped as to grip the bottom and hold a vessel at her berth by the chain or rope attached.
- 3The combined anchoring gear (anchor, rode, bill/peak and fittings such as bitts, cat, and windlass.)
- 4Representation of the nautical tool, used as a heraldic charge.
- 5Any instrument serving a purpose like that of a ship's anchor, such as an arrangement of timber to hold a dam fast; a device to hold the end of a bridge cable etc.; or a device used in metalworking to hold the core of a mould in place.
- 6A marked point in a document that can be the target of a hyperlink.
- 7A line of code in a program which acts as a reference point for further code to be added immediately before or after, usually via copy and paste.
- 8An anchorman or anchorwoman.
- 9The final runner in a relay race.
- 10A point that is touched by the draw hand or string when the bow is fully drawn and ready to shoot.
- 11A superstore or other facility that serves as a focus to bring customers into an area.
- 12That which gives stability or security.
- 13A metal tie holding adjoining parts of a building together.
- 14A screw anchor.
- 15Carved work, somewhat resembling an anchor or arrowhead; part of the ornaments of certain mouldings. It is seen in the echinus, or egg-and-anchor (called also egg-and-dart, egg-and-tongue) ornament.
- 16One of the anchor-shaped spicules of certain sponges.
- 17One of the calcareous spinules of certain holothurians, as in species of Synapta.
- 18The thirty-fifth Lenormand card.
- 19The brake of a vehicle.
- 20A defensive player, especially one who counters the opposition's best offensive player.
- 21A batter who remains in for a long time.
- 22A device for attaching a climber at the top of a climb, such as a chain or ring or a natural feature.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂enk-der.? Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́γκῡρᾰ (ắnkūră)bor.? Latin ancorabor. Proto-Germanic *ankurô Proto-West Germanic *ankurō Old English ancor Middle English anker English anchor From Middle English anker, from Old English ancor, ancra, from Latin ancora, from (or cognate with) Ancient Greek ἄγκυρα (ánkura). The modern form is a sixteenth-century modification after the Medieval Latin spelling anchora. Doublet of ancora, anker, angora, and Ankara.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acnhor,ancchor,anchhor,anchorr,anchro,ancohr,anhcor,annchor,nachor
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for anchor
Misspelling Variants of "anchor"
Frequency rank: #6,862 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index: