ash

/æʃ/

//æʃ// noun

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

"ash" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ash” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5,477) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#5,477
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Solid remains of a fire.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ash · ash · English

ash · rank #5,477 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,477
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH arriving

Nearest frequency peer: arriving (-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 neighbours of confusable “ash”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “ash” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

ash vs at
33% similar
ash vs aw
33% similar
ash vs AU
0% similar

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

Key facts for ash
PropertyValue
Headwordash
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/æʃ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#5,477
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “ash”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).ashlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “arriving” (#5,476), “aunt” (#5,478), “approached” (#5,475). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “ash” is #5,477. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ash is neighbouring look-alikes ("at", "aw", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /æʃ/. Frequency #5,477 among 3,931 “A” headwords. 8 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for ash in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "at", "aw", "AU", 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 *h₂eHs-der.? Proto-Germanic *askǭ Proto-West Germanic *askā Old English æsce Middle English asshe English ash From Middle English asshe, from Old English æsċe, from Proto-West Germanic *askā, from Proto-Germanic *askǭ (com… The correct English form is ash, spelled A-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Solid remains of a fire.
  2. 2
    The nonaqueous remains of a material subjected to any complete oxidation process.
  3. 3
    Fine particles from a volcano, volcanic ash.
  4. 4
    Human (or animal) remains after cremation.
  5. 5
    Mortal remains in general.
  6. 6
    What remains after a catastrophe.
  7. 7
    A gray color, similar to that of the remains of a fire.
  8. 8
    The resultant remaining more stable patterns that emerge from the evolution of a soup or a similarly random pattern.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The audience was more captivated by the growing ash at the end of his cigarette than by his words.
  2. Ash from a fireplace can restore minerals to your garden's soil.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-der.? Proto-Germanic *askǭ Proto-West Germanic *askā Old English æsce Middle English asshe English ash From Middle English asshe, from Old English æsċe, from Proto-West Germanic *askā, from Proto-Germanic *askǭ (compare West Frisian jiske, Dutch as, Low German Asch, German Asche, Danish aske, Swedish aska, Norwegian aske), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-; see it for cognates. The rare plural axen is from Middle English axen, axnen, from Old English axan, asċan (“ashes”) (plural of Old English axe, æsċe (“ash”)).

Synonyms

cremains

This word in other languages

ceniza(Español)cendre(Français)Asche(Deutsch)cinzas(Português)

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 "ash"?
"ash" is spelled A-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /æʃ/.
What does "ash" mean?
As a noun, "ash" means: Solid remains of a fire.
What words are commonly confused with "ash"?
"ash" is commonly confused with "at", "aw", "AU". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ash"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ash" is /æʃ/. 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 "ash"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-der.? Proto-Germanic *askǭ Proto-West Germanic *askā Old English æsce Middle English asshe English ash From Middle English asshe, from Old English æsċe, from Proto-West Germanic *askā, from Proto-Germanic ... 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 "ash", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

der#5,491rat#5,446MPS#5,524jam#5,426

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list