beat

/biːt/

//biːt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“beat” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,042) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#1,042
frequency rank, English
31,241
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A stroke; a blow.

Corpus desk

Index EN-beat · beat · English

beat · rank #1,042 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,042
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 31,241
  • PHOTO-FINISH association

Nearest frequency peer: association (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “beat”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “beat” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

beat vs Bt
25% similar
beat vs but
50% similar
beat vs bit
50% similar

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

Key facts for beat
PropertyValue
Headwordbeat
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/biːt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,042
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “beat” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). beat lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for beat is neighbouring look-alikes ("Bt", "but", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /biːt/. Frequency #1,042 among 31,241 “B” headwords. 19 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for beat, with forms such as "baet", "bbeat", and "beatt". 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, "Bt", "but", "bit", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, strike”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch boten, botten, butten (“to push,… The correct English form is beat, spelled B-E-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A stroke; a blow.
  2. 2
    A pulsation or throb.
  3. 3
    A pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit. Thus a beat is the basic time unit of a piece.
  4. 4
    A rhythm.
  5. 5
    A rhythm.
  6. 6
    The instrumental portion of a piece of hip-hop music.
  7. 7
    The interference between two tones of almost equal frequency
  8. 8
    A short pause in a play, screenplay, or teleplay, for dramatic or comedic effect.
  9. 9
    An area of a person's responsibility, especially
  10. 10
    An area of a person's responsibility, especially
  11. 11
    An act of reporting news or scientific results before a rival; a scoop.
  12. 12
    That which beats, or surpasses, another or others.
  13. 13
    A precinct.
  14. 14
    A place of habitual or frequent resort.
  15. 15
    A place of habitual or frequent resort.
  16. 16
    A low cheat or swindler.
  17. 17
    The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively.
  18. 18
    A smart tap on the adversary's blade.
  19. 19
    A makeup look; compare beat one's face.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He, […]with a careless beat, / Struck out the mute creation at a heat.
  2. a beat of the heart

Etymology

From Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, strike”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch boten, botten, butten (“to push, strike”), German boßen (“to thrash”), Gothic *𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽 (*bautan, “to beat, strike”) (whence, probably, Galician and Portuguese botar (“to expel; to throw”)); also Latin fūstis (“club, cudgel, knobbed stick, staff”), *fūtō (“to strike”), Albanian bahe, hobe (“sling”), Armenian բութ (butʻ), բույթ (buytʻ, “thumb”).

This word in other languages

latido(Español)battement(Français)Schlag(Deutsch)batida(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • baet
  • bbeat
  • beatt
  • ebat

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of beat - 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.

baet2bbeat1beatt1ebat2
Edit distance from "beat"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "beat"?
"beat" is spelled B-E-A-T. The IPA pronunciation is /biːt/.
What does "beat" mean?
As a noun, "beat" means: A stroke; a blow.
What words are commonly confused with "beat"?
"beat" is commonly confused with "Bt", "but", "bit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "beat"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "beat" is /biːt/. 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 "beat"?
From Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, strike”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch boten, botten, butten ... 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 "beat", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

text#1,062cold#1,013rock#1,002join#1,085
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list