beside

/bɪˈsaɪd/

//bɪˈsaɪd// prep

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

"beside" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“beside” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,190. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,190
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Next to; at the side of.

Corpus desk

Index EN-beside · beside · English

beside · rank #5,190 · 8 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,190
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH beings

Nearest frequency peer: beings (-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 “beside”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “beside” 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).

beside vs bide
67% similar
beside vs bride
67% similar
beside vs Bessie
50% similar

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

Key facts for beside
PropertyValue
Headwordbeside
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPreposition
IPA/bɪˈsaɪd/
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,190
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “beside”

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).besidelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “beings” (#5,189), “blade” (#5,191), “bacteria” (#5,188). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “beside” is #5,190. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around beside (IPA /bɪˈsaɪd/), apreposition. Corpus frequency is #5,190 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for beside, with forms such as "bbeside", "beisde", and "besdie". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "bide", "bride", "Bessie", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English beside, besiden, bisyde (also besides > besides), from Old English be sīdan, bī sīdan (“by the side (of), on the side (of)”). Compare Saterland Frisian biesiede (“aside”), German Low German bisied (“aside”), German beiseite (“aside, to o… The correct English form is beside, spelled B-E-S-I-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Next to; at the side of.
  2. 2
    Not relevant to.
  3. 3
    Besides; in addition to.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A small table beside the bed
  2. That is beside the point / beside the topic / beside the subject / beside the focus of this discussion.

Etymology

From Middle English beside, besiden, bisyde (also besides > besides), from Old English be sīdan, bī sīdan (“by the side (of), on the side (of)”). Compare Saterland Frisian biesiede (“aside”), German Low German bisied (“aside”), German beiseite (“aside, to one side”). Compare also Dutch terzijde (“aside”). By surface analysis, be- + side.

This word in other languages

cabe(Español)auprès de(Français)neben(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbeside
  • beisde
  • besdie
  • besidde
  • besied
  • besside
  • bseide
  • ebside

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bbeside1beisde2besdie2besidde1besied2besside1bseide2ebside2
Edit distance from "beside"

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 "beside"?
"beside" is spelled B-E-S-I-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bɪˈsaɪd/.
What does "beside" mean?
As a preposition, "beside" means: Next to; at the side of.
What words are commonly confused with "beside"?
"beside" is commonly confused with "bide", "bride", "Bessie". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "beside"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "beside" is /bɪˈsaɪd/. 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 "beside"?
From Middle English beside, besiden, bisyde (also besides > besides), from Old English be sīdan, bī sīdan (“by the side (of), on the side (of)”). Compare Saterland Frisian biesiede (“aside”), German Low German bisied (“aside”), German beiseite (“a... 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 "beside", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

beings#5,189Alaska#5,184census#5,198wright#5,180

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Bucks8 variantscamps8 variantsdealer8 variantsdeemed8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list