beggar
/ˈbɛɡɚ/
"beggar" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“beggar” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #23,179 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #23,179
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who begs.
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 | beggar |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɛɡɚ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #23,179 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “beggar” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for beggar is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɛɡɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #23,179 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for beggar, with forms such as "bbeggar", "begagr", and "begar". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "bigger", "Bengal", "begged", 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 beggere, beggare, beggar (“beggar”), from Middle English beggen (“to beg”), equivalent to beg + -ar. Alternative etymology derives Middle English beggere, beggare, beggar from Old French begart, originally a member of the Beghards, a lay… The correct English form is beggar, spelled B-E-G-G-A-R.
Definition
- 1A person who begs.
- 2A person suffering from extreme poverty.
- 3A mean or wretched person; a scoundrel.
- 4A minced oath for bugger.
- 5the last placer in Tycoon
Etymology
From Middle English beggere, beggare, beggar (“beggar”), from Middle English beggen (“to beg”), equivalent to beg + -ar. Alternative etymology derives Middle English beggere, beggare, beggar from Old French begart, originally a member of the Beghards, a lay brotherhood of mendicants in the Low Countries, from Middle Dutch beggaert (“mendicant”), with pejorative suffix (see -ard); the order is said to be named after the priest Lambert le Bègue of Liège (French for “Lambert the Stammerer”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbeggar,begagr,begar,beggarr,beggra,bgegar,ebggar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of beggar - 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 “beggar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-G-G-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɛɡɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bigger” - see the side-by-side comparison. beggar vs bigger
- 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.