bird
/bɜːd/
"bird" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bird” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,329 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,329
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of flight, having a beaked mouth, and laying...
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 | bird |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɜːd/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #2,329 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bird” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bird is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɜːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,329 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 14 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for bird, with forms such as "bbird", "bidr", and "birdd". 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, "br", "bit", "bro", 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 bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old … The correct English form is bird, spelled B-I-R-D.
Definition
- 1An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of flight, having a beaked mouth, and laying eggs.
- 2A chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a nestling.
- 3A chicken or turkey used as food.
- 4A man, fellow.
- 5A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive.
- 6A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive.
- 7An aircraft.
- 8A satellite.
- 9Booing and jeering, especially as done by an audience expressing displeasure at a performer.
- 10The vulgar hand gesture in which the middle finger is extended.
- 11A yardbird.
- 12A kilogram of cocaine.
- 13A penis.
- 14Snowbird (retiree who moves to a warmer climate).
Etymology
From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century. The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbird,bidr,birdd,birrd,brid,ibrd
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bird - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "bird"?
What does "bird" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "bird"?
How do you pronounce "bird"?
What is the origin of the word "bird"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “bird”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-I-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɜːd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “br” - see the side-by-side comparison. bird vs br
- 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.