beg

/ˈbɛɡ/

//ˈbɛɡ// verb

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

"beg" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“beg” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #6,544) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#6,544
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.

Corpus desk

Index EN-beg · beg · English

beg · rank #6,544 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,544
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH attributed

Nearest frequency peer: attributed (-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 neighbours of confusable “beg”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “beg” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

beg vs by
33% similar
beg vs bi
33% similar
beg vs BS
0% similar

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

Key facts for beg
PropertyValue
Headwordbeg
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈbɛɡ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#6,544
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “beg”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “attributed” (#6,543), “belonging” (#6,545), “Arkansas” (#6,542). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “beg” is #6,544. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for beg is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "bi", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /ˈbɛɡ/. Frequency #6,544 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for beg, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "bi", "BS", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bedukōn, a frequentative verb derived from Proto-W… The correct English form is beg, spelled B-E-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
  2. 2
    To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
  3. 3
    To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.
  4. 4
    To obviously lack or be in need of something.
  5. 5
    In the phrase beg the question: to assume.
  6. 6
    In the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).
  7. 7
    To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He begged on the street corner from passers-by.
  2. I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to cause offence.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bedukōn, a frequentative verb derived from Proto-West Germanic *bedu (“plea, petition, prayer”, whence English bead). Alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *bedagō (“petitioner, requester, beggar”), an agent noun from the same source. Compare North Frisian bēdagi (“to pray”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍅𐌰 (bidagwa, “beggar”). All ultimately from the root of English bid, which see for more. An alternative theory considers the verb a backformation from beggar and derives the latter from Old French begart (“kind of lay brother”).

Synonyms

beseechentreatsue

This word in other languages

mendigar(Español)mendier(Français)betteln(Deutsch)mendigar(Português)

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 "beg"?
"beg" is spelled B-E-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɛɡ/.
What does "beg" mean?
As a verb, "beg" means: To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
What words are commonly confused with "beg"?
"beg" is commonly confused with "by", "bi", "BS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "beg"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "beg" is /ˈbɛɡ/. 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 "beg"?
Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bedukōn, a frequentative verb derived fr... 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 "beg", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

yup#6,537cos#6,553dip#6,561dot#6,564

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list