bide
/baɪd/
"bide" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bide” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #43,526. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #43,526
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To bear; to endure; to tolerate.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bide · bide · English
bide · rank #43,526 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #43,526
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH Berk
Nearest frequency peer: Berk (-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 neighbourhood for “bide”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Beltran
Beltran
56,478 corpus weight
- Bennington
Bennington
56,477 corpus weight
- Berk
Berk
56,476 corpus weight
- bide
bide
56,475 corpus weight
- biotic
biotic
56,474 corpus weight
- bisexuality
bisexuality
56,473 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “bide” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | bide |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /baɪd/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #43,526 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bide” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around bide (IPA /baɪd/), averb. Corpus frequency is #43,526 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for bide, with forms such as "bbide", "bdie", and "bidde". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "big", "bit", "bye", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English biden, from Old English bīdan (“to stay, continue, live, remain, delay; wait for, await, expect; endure, experience, find; attain, obtain; own”), from Proto-West Germanic *bīdan (“to wait”), from Proto-Germanic *bīdaną (“to wait”), from … The correct English form is bide, spelled B-I-D-E.
Definition
- 1To bear; to endure; to tolerate.
- 2To face with resistance; to encounter; to withstand.
- 3To dwell or reside in a location; to abide.
- 4To wait; to be in expectation; to stay; to remain.
- 5To wait for; to await.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bide appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And doubting naught right courteous all, in your accustomed wont: And gentle ears, our author he is prest to bide the brunt
Tech[elles]. I heare them come, ſhall wee encounter them? / Tam[burlaine]. Keep all your ſtandings, and not ſtir a foot, / Myſelfe will bide the danger of the brunt.
Etymology
From Middle English biden, from Old English bīdan (“to stay, continue, live, remain, delay; wait for, await, expect; endure, experience, find; attain, obtain; own”), from Proto-West Germanic *bīdan (“to wait”), from Proto-Germanic *bīdaną (“to wait”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéydʰeti, from *bʰeydʰ- (“to command, persuade, compel, trust”). Latinate cognates (via PIE) include faith and fidelity. Cognates Cognate with Scots bide (“to dwell, to live; to stay”), Alemannic German beite (“to wait”), Cimbrian paiten (“to wait”), Dutch beiden (“to wait”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål bie (“to stay, to wait”), Faroese, Icelandic bíða (“to wait”), Norwegian Nynorsk bide, bie (“to wait”), Swedish bida (“to await, to bide”), Gothic 𐌱𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌽 (beidan, “to wait”).
Synonyms
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbide
- bdie
- bidde
- bied
- ibde
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bide - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "bide"?
What does "bide" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "bide"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bide", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "bide". Here's where to go from here.
- "bide" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "big". View pair
- 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #43,526 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.