bone

/bəʊn/

//bəʊn// noun

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

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

The verdict

“bone” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,148) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#3,148
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bone · bone · English

bone · rank #3,148 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,148
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH audio

Nearest frequency peer: audio (-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 “bone”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “bone” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

bone vs boy
50% similar
bone vs box
50% similar
bone vs bye
50% similar

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

Key facts for bone
PropertyValue
Headwordbone
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bəʊn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,148
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bone” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). bone lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bone is neighbouring look-alikes ("boy", "box", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /bəʊn/. Frequency #3,148 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 15 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for bone, with forms such as "bbone", "bnoe", and "boen". 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: From Middle English bon, from Old English bān (“bone, tusk; the bone of a limb”), from Proto-Germanic *bainą (“bone”), from *bainaz (“straight”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit, strike, beat”). Cognate with Scots bane, been, bean, bein,… The correct English form is bone, spelled B-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates.
  2. 2
    Any of the components of an endoskeleton, made of this material.
  3. 3
    A bone of a fish; a fishbone.
  4. 4
    A bonefish.
  5. 5
    One of the rigid parts of a corset that forms its frame, the boning, originally made of whalebone.
  6. 6
    One of the fragments of bone held between the fingers of the hand and rattled together to keep time to music.
  7. 7
    Anything made of bone, such as a bobbin for weaving bone lace.
  8. 8
    The framework of anything.
  9. 9
    An off-white colour, like the typical colour of bone.
  10. 10
    A dollar.
  11. 11
    The wishbone formation.
  12. 12
    An erect penis; a boner.
  13. 13
    A domino or die.
  14. 14
    A cannabis cigarette; a joint.
  15. 15
    A reward.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ne take noon hede to brynge togidere þe parties of þe boon þat is to-broken or dislocate, til viij. daies ben goon in þe wyntir, & v. in þe somer; for þanne it schal make quytture, and be sikir from swellynge; & þanne brynge togidere þe brynkis eiþer þe disiuncture after þe techynge þat schal be seid in þe chapitle of algebra.
  2. No Trophee, Sword, nor Hatchment o're his bones.

Etymology

From Middle English bon, from Old English bān (“bone, tusk; the bone of a limb”), from Proto-Germanic *bainą (“bone”), from *bainaz (“straight”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit, strike, beat”). Cognate with Scots bane, been, bean, bein, bain (“bone”), North Frisian bian, Biin, biinj (“bone; leg”), West Frisian bien (“bone”), Dutch been (“bone; leg”), German Low German Been, Bein (“bone”), German Bein (“leg”), German Gebein (“bones”), Swedish ben (“bone; leg”), Norwegian and Icelandic bein (“bone”), Breton benañ (“to cut, hew”), Latin perfinēs (“break through, break into pieces, shatter”), Avestan 𐬠𐬫𐬈𐬥𐬙𐬈 (byente, “they fight, hit”). Related also to Old Norse beinn (“straight, right, favourable, advantageous, convenient, friendly, fair, keen”) (whence Middle English bain, bayne, bayn, beyn (“direct, prompt”), Scots bein, bien (“in good condition, pleasant, well-to-do, cosy, well-stocked, pleasant, keen”)), Icelandic beinn (“straight, direct, hospitable”), Norwegian bein (“straight, direct, easy to deal with”). See bain, bein.

Synonyms

osribstaydoggy treat

This word in other languages

hueso(Español)os(Français)Knochen(Deutsch)osso(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbone
  • bnoe
  • boen
  • obne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bone - 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.

bbone1bnoe2boen2obne2
Edit distance from "bone"

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

How do you spell "bone"?
"bone" is spelled B-O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bəʊn/.
What does "bone" mean?
As a noun, "bone" means: A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates.
What words are commonly confused with "bone"?
"bone" 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 "bone"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bone" is /bəʊn/. 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 "bone"?
From Middle English bon, from Old English bān (“bone, tusk; the bone of a limb”), from Proto-Germanic *bainą (“bone”), from *bainaz (“straight”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit, strike, beat”). Cognate with Scots bane, been, b... 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 "bone", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

rush#3,133harm#3,169rape#3,127Jews#3,174

What to do next

You've looked up "bone". Here's where to go from here.

  • "bone" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "boy". View pair
  • 4 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #3,148 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list