answer
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "answer", 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 "answer" 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 "answer" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
answer is aEnglishnoun. It means: A response or reply; something said or done in reaction to a statement or question. Pronounced /ˈɑːn.sə/. It ranks #687 in English word frequency. Often confused with Asher and Anwar.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | answer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɑːn.sə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #687 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for answer is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɑːn.sə/. Corpus data places it at rank #687 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 4 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 answer, with forms such as "annswer", "ansewr", and "ansswer". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "Asher", "Anwar", "aster", 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 *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂éntsder. Proto-Germanic *anda- Proto-Indo-European *swer-der. Proto-Germanic *swarō Proto-Germanic *andaswarō Proto-West Germanic *andaswaru Old English andswaru Middl… 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 answer, spelled A-N-S-W-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A response or reply; something said or done in reaction to a statement or question.
- 2A solution to a problem.
- 3Someone or something that fills a similar role or position.
- 4A document filed in response to a complaint, responding to each point raised in the complaint and raising counterpoints.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂éntsder. Proto-Germanic *anda- Proto-Indo-European *swer-der. Proto-Germanic *swarō Proto-Germanic *andaswarō Proto-West Germanic *andaswaru Old English andswaru Middle English answere English answer From Middle English answere, andsware, from Old English andswaru (“answer”), from and- (“against”) + swaru (“affirmation”), (from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- (“front, forehead”) and Old English swerian (“to swear”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer-), suggesting an original meaning of "a sworn statement rebutting a charge". The cognates suggest the existence of Proto-Germanic *andaswarō (“a reply to a question”). Cognate with Old Frisian ondser (“answer”), Old Saxon andswōr (“answer”), Danish and Swedish ansvar (“liability, responsibility, answer”), Icelandic andsvar (“answer, response”). Compare also Old English andwyrde (“answer”) (cognate to Dutch antwoord, German Antwort), Old English andcwiss (“reply”), German Schwur (“oath, vow”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: annswer,ansewr,ansswer,answerr,answre,answwer,anwser,asnwer,naswer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for answer
Misspelling Variants of "answer"
Frequency rank: #687 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "answer"?
What does "answer" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "answer"?
How do you pronounce "answer"?
What is the origin of the word "answer"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index: