bode

/bəʊd/

//bəʊd// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bode" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bode” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #27,746) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#27,746
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To indicate by signs, as future events; to be an omen of; to portend or foretell.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bode · bode · English

bode · rank #27,746 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #27,746
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH blot

Nearest frequency peer: blot (-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 neighbours of confusable “bode”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “bode” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bode vs boy
50% similar
bode vs box
50% similar
bode vs bye
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bode
PropertyValue
Headwordbode
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/bəʊd/
Letters4
Frequency rank#27,746
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “bode”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).bodelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “blot” (#27,745), “Boer” (#27,747), “boggling” (#27,748). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bode” is #27,746. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bode is neighbouring look-alikes ("boy", "box", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /bəʊd/. Frequency #27,746 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for bode, with forms such as "bbode", "bdoe", and "bodde". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "boy", "box", "bye", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Verb from Middle English boden, from Old English bodian (“announce, foretell”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodōn, from Proto-Germanic *budōną (“to proclaim, announce, lere, instruct”). See bid. Noun from Middle English bod, from Old English bod, from Proto-G… The correct English form is bode, spelled B-O-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To indicate by signs, as future events; to be an omen of; to portend or foretell.
  2. 2
    To betoken or augur something good or bad that will happen in the future.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bode appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound, And crown what I profess with kind event If I speak true; if hollowly invert What best is boded me to mischief: I, Beyond all limit of what else i' th' world, Do love, prize, honour you.
  2. Whatever now / The omen prove, it boded well to you.

Etymology

Verb from Middle English boden, from Old English bodian (“announce, foretell”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodōn, from Proto-Germanic *budōną (“to proclaim, announce, lere, instruct”). See bid. Noun from Middle English bod, from Old English bod, from Proto-Germanic *budą (“message, offer”). Since 1740 also a shortening of forebode.

This word in other languages

anunciarse(Español)augurer(Français)verheißen(Deutsch)augurar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbode
  • bdoe
  • bodde
  • obde

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bode - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbode1bdoe2bodde1obde2
Edit distance from "bode"

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 "bode"?
"bode" is spelled B-O-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bəʊd/.
What does "bode" mean?
As a verb, "bode" means: To indicate by signs, as future events; to be an omen of; to portend or foretell.
What words are commonly confused with "bode"?
"bode" is commonly confused with "boy", "box", "bye". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bode"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bode" is /bəʊd/. 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 "bode"?
Verb from Middle English boden, from Old English bodian (“announce, foretell”), from Proto-West Germanic *bodōn, from Proto-Germanic *budōną (“to proclaim, announce, lere, instruct”). See bid. Noun from Middle English bod, from Old English bod, fr... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bode", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

blot#27,745Boer#27,747boos#27,751Cohn#27,775

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list