aught

/ɔːt/

//ɔːt// pron

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

"aught" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“aught” is uncommon English (frequency #57,221 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a pronoun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,221
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Anything whatsoever, any part.

Corpus desk

Index EN-aught · aught · English

aught · rank #57,221 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,221
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH AstraZeneca

Nearest frequency peer: AstraZeneca (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “aught”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “aught” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for aught
PropertyValue
Headwordaught
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPronoun
IPA/ɔːt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#57,221
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “aught” in English

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).aughtfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “AstraZeneca” (#57,220), “Augie” (#57,222), “autologous” (#57,224). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “aught” is #57,221. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

aught is uncommon English at frequency #57,221 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as apronoun, transcribed /ɔːt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Anything whatsoever, any part.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for aught in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. 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 aught, ought, from Old English āht, āwiht, from ā (“always", "ever”) + wiht (“thing", "creature”). More at wight. The correct English form is aught, spelled A-U-G-H-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Anything whatsoever, any part.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. for aught I know/care
  2. […] wouldst thou aught with me?

Etymology

From Middle English aught, ought, from Old English āht, āwiht, from ā (“always", "ever”) + wiht (“thing", "creature”). More at wight.

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 "aught"?
"aught" is spelled A-U-G-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ɔːt/.
What does "aught" mean?
As a pronoun, "aught" means: Anything whatsoever, any part.
How do you pronounce "aught"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "aught" is /ɔːt/. 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 "aught"?
From Middle English aught, ought, from Old English āht, āwiht, from ā (“always", "ever”) + wiht (“thing", "creature”). More at wight. 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 "aught", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Augie#57,222Ahern#57,207belay#57,237bloop#57,250

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list