boa
/ˈbəʊ.ə/
"boa" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“boa” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,904 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,904
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of a group of large American snakes, of the genus Boa, subfamily Boinae, or family Boidae, including the boa constrictor and the emperor boa of Mexico.
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 | boa |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbəʊ.ə/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #22,904 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “boa” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for boa is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbəʊ.ə/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,904 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for boa in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "BS", "br", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English boa, from Latin boa (“large snake”), a species of serpent mentioned in Pliny's Naturalis Historia (Natural History). The scarf was named attributively, for its resemblance to the snake when worn. The correct English form is boa, spelled B-O-A.
Definition
- 1Any of a group of large American snakes, of the genus Boa, subfamily Boinae, or family Boidae, including the boa constrictor and the emperor boa of Mexico.
- 2A type of long scarf; typically made from synthetic or real feathers (or occasionally fur), and usually worn by being draped across the shoulders with the ends hanging low, sometimes also with a loop around the neck.
Etymology
From Middle English boa, from Latin boa (“large snake”), a species of serpent mentioned in Pliny's Naturalis Historia (Natural History). The scarf was named attributively, for its resemblance to the snake when worn.
This word in other languages
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 "boa"?
What does "boa" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "boa"?
How do you pronounce "boa"?
What is the origin of the word "boa"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “boa”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-O-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbəʊ.ə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “by” - see the side-by-side comparison. boa vs by
- 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.