English Word Reference Free

blade

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "blade", 5-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 "blade" 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 "blade" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

blade is aEnglishnoun. It means: The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts. Pronounced /bleɪd/. It ranks #5,191 in English word frequency. Often confused with BLE and blue.

Key facts for blade
PropertyValue
Headwordblade
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bleɪd/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,191
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of blade in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for blade is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bleɪd/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,191 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 26 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for blade, with forms such as "balde", "bblade", and "bladde". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "BLE", "blue", "brad", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”). See also West Frisian bled, Dutch blad, German Blatt, D… 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 blade, spelled B-L-A-D-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
  2. 2
    The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
  3. 3
    The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
  4. 4
    The flat functional end or piece of a propeller, oar, hockey stick, chisel, screwdriver, skate, etc.
  5. 5
    The narrow leaf of a grass or cereal.
  6. 6
    The thin, flat part of a plant leaf, attached to a stem (petiole).
  7. 7
    A flat bone, especially the shoulder blade.
  8. 8
    A cut of beef from near the shoulder blade (part of the chuck).
  9. 9
    The part of the tongue just behind the tip, used to make laminal consonants.
  10. 10
    A piece of prepared, sharp-edged stone, often flint, at least twice as long as it is wide; a long flake of ground-edge stone or knapped vitreous stone.
  11. 11
    A throw characterized by a tight parabolic trajectory due to a steep lateral attitude.
  12. 12
    The rudder, daggerboard, or centerboard of a vessel.
  13. 13
    A bulldozer or surface-grading machine with mechanically adjustable blade that is nominally perpendicular to the forward motion of the vehicle.
  14. 14
    A dashing young man.
  15. 15
    A homosexual, usually male.
  16. 16
    An area of a city which is commonly known for prostitution.
  17. 17
    Thin plate, foil.
  18. 18
    One of a series of small plates that make up the aperture or the shutter of a camera.
  19. 19
    The principal rafters of a roof.
  20. 20
    The four large shell plates on the sides, and the five large ones of the middle, of the carapace of the sea turtle, which yield the best tortoise shell.
  21. 21
    Ellipsis of blade server.
  22. 22
    Synonym of knifeblade.
  23. 23
    An exterior product of vectors. (The product may have more than two factors. Also, a scalar counts as a 0-blade, a vector as a 1-blade; an exterior product of k vectors may be called a k-blade.)
  24. 24
    The part of a key that is inserted into the lock.
  25. 25
    An artificial foot used by amputee athletes, shaped like an upside-down question mark.
  26. 26
    The quality of singing with a pure, resonant sound; especially of a countertenor.

Etymology

From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”). See also West Frisian bled, Dutch blad, German Blatt, Danish blad, Irish bláth (“flower”), Welsh blodyn (“flower”), Tocharian A pält, Tocharian B pilta (“leaf”), Albanian fletë (“leaf”). Similar usage in German Sägeblatt (“saw blade”, literally “saw leaf”). Doublet of blat. More at blow.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: balde,bblade,bladde,blaed,bldae,bllade,lbade

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for blade

Misspelling Variants of "blade"

balde5bblade6bladde6blaed5bldae5bllade6lbade5
Misspelling Variants of "blade"

Frequency rank: #5,191 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blade"?
"blade" is spelled B-L-A-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bleɪd/.
What does "blade" mean?
As a noun, "blade" means: The (typically sharp-edged) part of a knife, sword, razor, or other tool with which it cuts.
What words are commonly confused with "blade"?
"blade" is commonly confused with "BLE", "blue", "brad". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "blade"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blade" is /bleɪd/. 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 "blade"?
From Middle English blade, blad, from Old English blæd (“leaf”), from Proto-West Germanic *blad, from Proto-Germanic *bladą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₃-o-to-m, from *bʰleh₃- (“to thrive, bloom”). See also West Frisian bled, Dutch blad, Germa... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.