bearing

/ˈbɛə̯ɹɪŋ/

//ˈbɛə̯ɹɪŋ// verb

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

"bearing" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bearing” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,918. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,918
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - present participle and gerund of bear

Corpus desk

Index EN-bearing · bearing · English

bearing · rank #4,918 · 10 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,918
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH batman

Nearest frequency peer: batman (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “bearing”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “bearing” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

bearing vs being
71% similar
bearing vs bring
71% similar
bearing vs boring
71% similar

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

Key facts for bearing
PropertyValue
Headwordbearing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈbɛə̯ɹɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#4,918
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bearing”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).bearinglands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “batman” (#4,917), “beats” (#4,919), “Baltimore” (#4,916). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bearing” is #4,918. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around bearing (IPA /ˈbɛə̯ɹɪŋ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #4,918 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Dominant gloss: "present participle and gerund of bear".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for bearing, with forms such as "baering", "bbearing", and "beairng". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "being", "bring", "boring", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English beringe, berynge, berende, berande, berand, from Old English berende (“bearing; fruitful”) (also as synonym Old English bǣrende), from Proto-Germanic *berandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *beraną (“to bear; carry”), equivalent t… The correct English form is bearing, spelled B-E-A-R-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of bear

Etymology

From Middle English beringe, berynge, berende, berande, berand, from Old English berende (“bearing; fruitful”) (also as synonym Old English bǣrende), from Proto-Germanic *berandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *beraną (“to bear; carry”), equivalent to bear + -ing.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • baering
  • bbearing
  • beairng
  • bearign
  • bearingg
  • bearinng
  • bearnig
  • bearring
  • beraing
  • ebaring

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bearing - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

baering2bbearing1beairng2bearign2bearingg1bearinng1bearnig2bearring1
Edit distance from "bearing"

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 "bearing"?
"bearing" is spelled B-E-A-R-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɛə̯ɹɪŋ/.
What does "bearing" mean?
As a verb, "bearing" means: present participle and gerund of bear
What words are commonly confused with "bearing"?
"bearing" is commonly confused with "being", "bring", "boring". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bearing"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bearing" is /ˈbɛə̯ɹɪŋ/. 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 "bearing"?
From Middle English beringe, berynge, berende, berande, berand, from Old English berende (“bearing; fruitful”) (also as synonym Old English bǣrende), from Proto-Germanic *berandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *beraną (“to bear; carry”), eq... 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 "bearing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

biology#4,921appeals#4,914amateur#4,913briefly#4,923

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

worlds10 variantscheaper10 variantsstrict10 variantssecured10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list