arrest

/əˈɹɛst/

//əˈɹɛst// noun

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

"arrest" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“arrest” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,713. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,713
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A check; a stop; an act or instance of arresting something.

Corpus desk

Index EN-arrest · arrest · English

arrest · rank #2,713 · 6 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,713
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Amazon

Nearest frequency peer: Amazon (-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 neighbourhood for “arrest”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “arrest” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

arrest vs Ayres
50% similar
arrest vs artist
67% similar
arrest vs attest
67% similar

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

Key facts for arrest
PropertyValue
Headwordarrest
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈɹɛst/
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,713
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “arrest” sits in English frequency

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).arrest lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around arrest (IPA /əˈɹɛst/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,713 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for arrest, with forms such as "arerst", "arest", and "arresst". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "Ayres", "artist", "attest", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English arest (noun) and aresten (verb), from Old French areste (noun) and arester (“to stay, stop”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *arrestō, from Latin ad- (“to”) + restō (“to stop, remain behind, stay back”), from re- (“back”) + stō (“to stand”), fr… The correct English form is arrest, spelled A-R-R-E-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A check; a stop; an act or instance of arresting something.
  2. 2
    The condition of being stopped, standstill.
  3. 3
    The process of arresting a criminal, suspect etc.
  4. 4
    A confinement, detention, as after an arrest.
  5. 5
    A device to physically arrest motion.
  6. 6
    The judicial detention of a ship to secure a financial claim against its operators.
  7. 7
    Any seizure by power, physical or otherwise.
  8. 8
    A scurfiness of the back part of the hind leg of a horse

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest
  2. State police made a total of 15 drug-related arrests across the city.

Etymology

From Middle English arest (noun) and aresten (verb), from Old French areste (noun) and arester (“to stay, stop”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *arrestō, from Latin ad- (“to”) + restō (“to stop, remain behind, stay back”), from re- (“back”) + stō (“to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), equivalent to ad- + rest. Compare French arrêter (“to stop”).

This word in other languages

paro(Español)arrestation(Français)Verhaftung(Deutsch)detenção(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • arerst
  • arest
  • arresst
  • arrestt
  • arrets
  • arrset

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

arerst2arest1arresst1arrestt1arrets2arrset2
Edit distance from "arrest"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "arrest"?
"arrest" is spelled A-R-R-E-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈɹɛst/.
What does "arrest" mean?
As a noun, "arrest" means: A check; a stop; an act or instance of arresting something.
What words are commonly confused with "arrest"?
"arrest" is commonly confused with "Ayres", "artist", "attest". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "arrest"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "arrest" is /əˈɹɛst/. 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 "arrest"?
From Middle English arest (noun) and aresten (verb), from Old French areste (noun) and arester (“to stay, stop”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *arrestō, from Latin ad- (“to”) + restō (“to stop, remain behind, stay back”), from re- (“back”) + stō (“to s... 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 "arrest", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Amazon#2,712attend#2,714agents#2,711carbon#2,717

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

latter6 variantsnoise6 variantsgolf6 variantsplate6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "arrest". Here's where to go from here.

  • "arrest" maps to 14 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Ayres". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #2,713 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "A" letter cohort. A–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list