bough
/baʊ/
"bough" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bough” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,156. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #40,156
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bough · bough · English
bough · rank #40,156 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #40,156
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 31,241
- PHOTO-FINISH boudoir
Nearest frequency peer: boudoir (-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 “bough”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- boardman
boardman
59,848 corpus weight
- Bollinger
Bollinger
59,847 corpus weight
- boudoir
boudoir
59,846 corpus weight
- bough
bough
59,845 corpus weight
- bounding
bounding
59,844 corpus weight
- bowery
bowery
59,843 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “bough” 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 | bough |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /baʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #40,156 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bough” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around bough (IPA /baʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #40,156 among 31,241 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for bough, with forms such as "bbough", "boguh", and "bouggh". 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, "bug", "bush", "bout", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *bʰeh₂ǵʰús From Middle English bough (“branch of a bush or tree, especially a main branch; limb of an animal or person; something resembling a branch (such as a plant root or branch of a nerve); (figuratively) Christian cross; descendant, offsprin… The correct English form is bough, spelled B-O-U-G-H.
Definition
- 1A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.
- 2A gallows.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bough appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. (Rock-a-bye Baby)
Where the Bee ſucks, there ſuck I, / In a Cowſlips bell, I lie, / There I cowch when Owles doe crie, / On the Batts backe I doe flie / after Sommer merrily. / Merrily, merrily, ſhall I liue now / Vnder the bloſſom that hangs on the Bow.
Etymology
PIE word *bʰeh₂ǵʰús From Middle English bough (“branch of a bush or tree, especially a main branch; limb of an animal or person; something resembling a branch (such as a plant root or branch of a nerve); (figuratively) Christian cross; descendant, offspring”) [and other forms], from Old English bōg, bōh (“tree bough or branch; arm; shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōgu, from Proto-Germanic *bōguz (“shoulder; upper arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰús (“arm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bouch, West Frisian boech, Dutch boeg, German Low German Boog, German Bug, Danish bov, Icelandic bógur, and distantly with Ancient Greek πῆχυς (pêkhus, “forearm, cubit, etc.”). Doublet of bow ("front of a ship, prow").
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbough
- boguh
- bouggh
- boughh
- bouhg
- buogh
- obugh
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bough - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "bough"?
What does "bough" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "bough"?
How do you pronounce "bough"?
What is the origin of the word "bough"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bough", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
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.