bestow
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "bestow", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "bestow" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "bestow" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
bestow is aEnglishverb. It means: To apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use. Pronounced /bɪˈstəʊ/. Often confused with Beto and bests.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bestow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bɪˈstəʊ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #29,557 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bestow is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɪˈstəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,557 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for bestow, with forms such as "bbestow", "besotw", and "besstow". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "Beto", "bests", "Boston", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *h₁epi The verb is derived from Middle English bestowen, bistouen, bistowen (“to give, bestow; to apply (something to something else); to arrange or have control over (something); to place (someone) in a position; to use (for some purpose); (refle… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is bestow, spelled B-E-S-T-O-W, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use.
- 2To apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use.
- 3To impart (something) gratuitously; to present (something) to someone or something, especially as a gift or an honour; to confer, to give, to accord; to render.
- 4To place or put (someone or something) somewhere or in a certain situation; to dispose of.
- 5To deposit (something) for safekeeping; to lay up (something) in store; to stow.
- 6To provide (someone or oneself) with accommodation; to find quarters for (someone or oneself); to lodge, to quarter.
- 7To behave or conduct (oneself); to acquit.
- 8To give (someone or oneself) in marriage.
Etymology
PIE word *h₁epi The verb is derived from Middle English bestowen, bistouen, bistowen (“to give, bestow; to apply (something to something else); to arrange or have control over (something); to place (someone) in a position; to use (for some purpose); (reflexive) to find (oneself) a place to live or shelter”) [and other forms], from bi- (prefix forming verbs, often with a completive, figurative, or intensive meaning) + stouen, stowen (“to pack (cargo) in a ship, stow; to place (someone) in a certain position; to provide quarters for, lodge; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to place; to stand (up)”)). The English word is analysable as be- (intensifying prefix forming verbs) + stow (“to put (something) away in a suitable place; etc.”). The noun is derived from the verb.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbestow,besotw,besstow,bestoww,besttow,bestwo,betsow,bsetow,ebstow
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for bestow
Misspelling Variants of "bestow"
Frequency rank: #29,557 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index: