baby
/ˈbeɪ̯.bi/
"baby" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“baby” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #547 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #547
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | baby |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbeɪ̯.bi/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #547 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “baby” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for baby is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbeɪ̯.bi/. Corpus data places it at rank #547 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for baby, with forms such as "babby", "babyy", and "bayb". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "BB", "bad", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō-redup. Proto-Germanic *babô Proto-West Germanic *babō Old English *baba Middle English babe Old English -iġ Middle English -y Middle English baby English baby From Middle English baby, babie (“baby… The correct English form is baby, spelled B-A-B-Y.
Definition
- 1A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.
- 2A very young human, even if not yet born.
- 3Any very young animal, especially a vertebrate; many species have specific names for their babies, such as kittens for the babies of cats, puppies for the babies of dogs, and chicks for the babies of birds. See :Category:Baby animals for more.
- 4A person who is immature, infantile, or feeble.
- 5A person who is new to or inexperienced in something.
- 6The lastborn of a family; the youngest sibling, irrespective of age.
- 7A person's romantic partner; a term of endearment used to refer to or address e.g. one's girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse.
- 8A form of address to a person considered to be attractive.
- 9A concept or creation endeared by its creator.
- 10A pet project or responsibility.
- 11An affectionate term for anything.
- 12A small image of an infant; a doll.
- 13One who is new to an identity or community.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō-redup. Proto-Germanic *babô Proto-West Germanic *babō Old English *baba Middle English babe Old English -iġ Middle English -y Middle English baby English baby From Middle English baby, babie (“baby”), a diminutive form of babe (“babe, baby”), equivalent to babe + -y/-ie (“endearing and diminutive suffix”). Perhaps ultimately imitative of baby talk (compare babble).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: babby,babyy,bayb,bbaby,bbay
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of baby - 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.
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 “baby”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-B-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbeɪ̯.bi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “by” - see the side-by-side comparison. baby vs by
- 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.