burd

noun

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

The verdict

“burd” is uncommon English (frequency #76,607 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,607
frequency rank, English
31,241
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - maiden, young woman

Key facts for burd
PropertyValue
Headwordburd
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Frequency rank#76,607
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “burd” 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). burd lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

burd is uncommon English at frequency #76,607 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "maiden, young woman".

No misspelling variants are generated for burd in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English berde (“woman, lady, young lady”), possibly from Old English byrde, ġebyrde (“of noble birth”), from byrd, ġebyrd (“birth”), or from an unattested *byrde (“embroideress”). Possibly the origin of the English slang bird for a young woman. The correct English form is burd, spelled B-U-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    maiden, young woman

Etymology

From Middle English berde (“woman, lady, young lady”), possibly from Old English byrde, ġebyrde (“of noble birth”), from byrd, ġebyrd (“birth”), or from an unattested *byrde (“embroideress”). Possibly the origin of the English slang bird for a young woman.

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 "burd"?
"burd" is spelled B-U-R-D.
What does "burd" mean?
As a noun, "burd" means: maiden, young woman
What is the origin of the word "burd"?
From Middle English berde (“woman, lady, young lady”), possibly from Old English byrde, ġebyrde (“of noble birth”), from byrd, ġebyrd (“birth”), or from an unattested *byrde (“embroideress”). Possibly the origin of the English slang bird for a you... 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.

Using “burd”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-U-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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