ashen
/ˈæʃ.ən/
"ashen" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ashen” is an uncommon English word, ranked #54,020 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #54,020
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Made from the wood of the ash-tree.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ashen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈæʃ.ən/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #54,020 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ashen” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ashen is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæʃ.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #54,020 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Made from the wood of the ash-tree.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for ashen, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English asshen, aisshen, esscen, from Old English æsċen (“made of ashwood”), equivalent to ash + -en (“made or consisting of”). Cognate with Scots aschin, eschin (“ashen”). The correct English form is ashen, spelled A-S-H-E-N.
Definition
- 1Made from the wood of the ash-tree.
Etymology
From Middle English asshen, aisshen, esscen, from Old English æsċen (“made of ashwood”), equivalent to ash + -en (“made or consisting of”). Cognate with Scots aschin, eschin (“ashen”).
This word in other languages
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
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Using “ashen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-S-H-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæʃ.ən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.