anchor
/ˈæŋ.kə/
"anchor" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“anchor” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,862 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,862
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement.
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 | 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) |
Where “anchor” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for anchor is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, 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 generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for anchor, with forms such as "acnhor", "ancchor", and "anchhor". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "author", "archer", "anyhow", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
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,… The correct English form is anchor, spelled A-N-C-H-O-R.
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
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of anchor - 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 “anchor”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-N-C-H-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæŋ.kə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “author” - see the side-by-side comparison. anchor vs author
- 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.