arrive

/əˈɹaɪv/

//əˈɹaɪv// verb

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

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

The verdict

“arrive” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,739. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,739
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To reach; to get to a certain place.

Corpus desk

Index EN-arrive · arrive · English

arrive · rank #3,739 · 6 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,739
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Arizona

Nearest frequency peer: Arizona (-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 “arrive”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “arrive” 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).

arrive vs Artie
50% similar
arrive vs arrived
86% similar
arrive vs arrives
86% similar

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

Key facts for arrive
PropertyValue
Headwordarrive
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/əˈɹaɪv/
Letters6
Frequency rank#3,739
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “arrive” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).arrivelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Arizona” (#3,738), “belong” (#3,740), “angle” (#3,737). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around arrive (IPA /əˈɹaɪv/), averb. Corpus frequency is #3,739 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for arrive, with forms such as "arirve", "arive", and "arriev". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "Artie", "arrived", "arrives", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English arriven, ariven, from Old French ariver, from Early Medieval Latin adrīpāre (“to land, come ashore”), derived from Latin rīpa (“shore, river-bank”). Displaced native oncome, tocome. For the semantic evolution, compare Old English ġelandi… The correct English form is arrive, spelled A-R-R-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To reach; to get to a certain place.
  2. 2
    To obtain a level of success or fame; to succeed.
  3. 3
    To come; said of time.
  4. 4
    To happen or occur.
  5. 5
    To achieve orgasm; to cum; to ejaculate.
  6. 6
    To reach; to come to.
  7. 7
    To bring to shore.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. We've just arrived at the hotel to book in, so we should arrive at Mike’s in time for lunch.
  2. He arrived home for two days.

Etymology

From Middle English arriven, ariven, from Old French ariver, from Early Medieval Latin adrīpāre (“to land, come ashore”), derived from Latin rīpa (“shore, river-bank”). Displaced native oncome, tocome. For the semantic evolution, compare Old English ġelandian, ġelendan, lendan (“to arrive at land; land”) > Middle English alenden, landen (“to arrive; arrive at shore; land”).

Antonyms

depart

This word in other languages

llegar(Español)arriver(Français)gelangen(Deutsch)chegar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • arirve
  • arive
  • arriev
  • arrivve
  • arrvie
  • rarive

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

arirve2arive1arriev2arrivve1arrvie2rarive2
Edit distance from "arrive"

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 "arrive"?
"arrive" is spelled A-R-R-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈɹaɪv/.
What does "arrive" mean?
As a verb, "arrive" means: To reach; to get to a certain place.
What words are commonly confused with "arrive"?
"arrive" is commonly confused with "Artie", "arrived", "arrives". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "arrive"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "arrive" is /əˈɹaɪv/. 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 "arrive"?
From Middle English arriven, ariven, from Old French ariver, from Early Medieval Latin adrīpāre (“to land, come ashore”), derived from Latin rīpa (“shore, river-bank”). Displaced native oncome, tocome. For the semantic evolution, compare Old Engli... 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 "arrive", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

belong#3,740Berlin#3,741bishop#3,742they'd#3,729

Similar misspelling depth

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

angle6 variantssilly6 variantsshell6 variantsone's6 variants

What to do next

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

  • "arrive" maps to 10 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Artie". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #3,739 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