anchovy

/ˈæn.t͡ʃə.vi/

//ˈæn.t͡ʃə.vi// noun

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

"anchovy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“anchovy” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #48,057. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#48,057
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any small saltwater fish of the Engraulidae family, consisting of 160 species in sixteen genera, those of the genus Engraulis being widely sold as food.

Corpus desk

Index EN-anchovy · anchovy · English

anchovy · rank #48,057 · 11 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #48,057
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH amuses

Nearest frequency peer: amuses (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “anchovy”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “anchovy” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

anchovy vs Anthony
57% similar
anchovy vs anchor
71% similar

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

Key facts for anchovy
PropertyValue
Headwordanchovy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈæn.t͡ʃə.vi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#48,057
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “anchovy”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).anchovylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “amuses” (#48,056), “amirite” (#48,055), “antagonize” (#48,059). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “anchovy” is #48,057. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around anchovy (IPA /ˈæn.t͡ʃə.vi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #48,057 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Any small saltwater fish of the Engraulidae family, consisting of 160 species in sixteen genera, those of the genus Engraulis being widely sold as food.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for anchovy, with forms such as "acnhovy", "ancchovy", and "anchhovy". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Anthony", "anchor", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Spanish anchoa, from Genoese Ligurian anciôa or related Corsican anchjuva, anciua. The term's ultimate origin is unclear; some suggest it may have derived from an unattested Vulgar Latin term *apiuva, from Latin aphyē, apua, from Ancient Greek ἀφύη (ap… The correct English form is anchovy, spelled A-N-C-H-O-V-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any small saltwater fish of the Engraulidae family, consisting of 160 species in sixteen genera, those of the genus Engraulis being widely sold as food.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. [T]he cooks were laying a refection before him of sack and anchovies and garlic sausage and gammons of bacon and - this was the important item - a great pudding dish out of which rose the noble dome of a crisp brown pie-crust.

Etymology

From Spanish anchoa, from Genoese Ligurian anciôa or related Corsican anchjuva, anciua. The term's ultimate origin is unclear; some suggest it may have derived from an unattested Vulgar Latin term *apiuva, from Latin aphyē, apua, from Ancient Greek ἀφύη (aphúē) (which may be formed like Sanskrit अभ्व (ábhva-, “monster”)); others suggest it comes from Basque antxu, anchu (“dried fish”), from anchuva (“dry”), if that Basque term is not itself derived from Latin via some intermediary. None of these hypotheses is satisfactory because of the phonetic irregularities.

This word in other languages

anchoa(Español)anchois(Français)Sardelle(Deutsch)anchova(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acnhovy
  • ancchovy
  • anchhovy
  • anchovvy
  • anchovyy
  • anchoyv
  • anchvoy
  • ancohvy
  • anhcovy
  • annchovy
  • nachovy

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of anchovy - 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.

acnhovy2ancchovy1anchhovy1anchovvy1anchovyy1anchoyv2anchvoy2ancohvy2
Edit distance from "anchovy"

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 "anchovy"?
"anchovy" is spelled A-N-C-H-O-V-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈæn.t͡ʃə.vi/.
What does "anchovy" mean?
As a noun, "anchovy" means: Any small saltwater fish of the Engraulidae family, consisting of 160 species in sixteen genera, those of the genus Engraulis being widely sold as food.
What words are commonly confused with "anchovy"?
"anchovy" is commonly confused with "Anthony", "anchor". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "anchovy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "anchovy" is /ˈæn.t͡ʃə.vi/. 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 "anchovy"?
From Spanish anchoa, from Genoese Ligurian anciôa or related Corsican anchjuva, anciua. The term's ultimate origin is unclear; some suggest it may have derived from an unattested Vulgar Latin term *apiuva, from Latin aphyē, apua, from Ancient Gree... 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 "anchovy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

amirite#48,055Antalya#48,060albumin#48,050Ariadne#48,066

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

artifice11 variantsAshburn11 variantsassistive11 variantsbatshit11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list