boa
/ˈbəʊ.ə/
"boa" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“boa” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #22,904) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #22,904
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 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.
Corpus desk
Index EN-boa · boa · English
boa · rank #22,904 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #22,904
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH branched
Nearest frequency peer: branched (+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 “boa”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- BBW
BBW
77,101 corpus weight
- bigot
bigot
77,099 corpus weight
- boa
boa
77,097 corpus weight
- branched
branched
77,096 corpus weight
- Britannia
Britannia
77,094 corpus weight
- Britt
Britt
77,093 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “boa” 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 | 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
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for boa is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "BS", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈbəʊ.ə/. Frequency #22,904 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how boa appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Do not take up your boa as if it were the rope with which you meant to hang yourself; nor wrap your shawl round you as if it were your shroud.
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.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "boa", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "boa". Here's where to go from here.
- "boa" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "by". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #22,904 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.