beg
/ˈbɛɡ/
"beg" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“beg” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,544 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #6,544
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
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 | beg |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈbɛɡ/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #6,544 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “beg” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for beg is 3 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɛɡ/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,544 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
- 2To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
- 3To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.
- 4To obviously lack or be in need of something.
- 5In the phrase beg the question: to assume.
- 6In the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).
- 7To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
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”).
This word in other languages
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 “beg”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɛɡ/ (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. beg 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.