aven

noun

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

"aven" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“aven” is uncommon English (frequency #70,471 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,471
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A vertical shaft leading upward from a cave passage, sometimes connecting with passages above.

Corpus desk

Index EN-aven · aven · English

aven · rank #70,471 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,471
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH authoritative…

Nearest frequency peer: authoritatively (-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 “aven”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for aven
PropertyValue
Headwordaven
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#70,471
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “aven” 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).avenfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “authoritatively” (#70,470), “AVN” (#70,473), “ayes” (#70,474). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “aven” is #70,471. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

aven is uncommon English at frequency #70,471 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for aven in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French aven. The correct English form is aven, spelled A-V-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A vertical shaft leading upward from a cave passage, sometimes connecting with passages above.
  2. 2
    A pothole.

Etymology

Borrowed from French aven.

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 "aven"?
"aven" is spelled A-V-E-N.
What does "aven" mean?
As a noun, "aven" means: A vertical shaft leading upward from a cave passage, sometimes connecting with passages above.
What is the origin of the word "aven"?
Borrowed from French aven. 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 "aven", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ayes#70,474Anis#70,456belk#70,493Allu#70,445

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list