buy

/baɪ/

//baɪ// verb

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

"buy" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“buy” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #476) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#476
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.

Corpus desk

Index EN-buy · buy · English

buy · rank #476 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #476
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH age

Nearest frequency peer: age (-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 “buy”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “buy” 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).

buy vs by
67% similar
buy vs BW
0% similar
buy vs BX
0% similar

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

Key facts for buy
PropertyValue
Headwordbuy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/baɪ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#476
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “buy”

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).buylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “age” (#475), “deal” (#477), “taken” (#474). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “buy” is #476. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for buy is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "BW", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /baɪ/. Frequency #476 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 8 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for buy in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "BW", "BX", 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 byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ… The correct English form is buy, spelled B-U-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.
  2. 2
    To obtain, especially by some sacrifice.
  3. 3
    To suffer consequences for (something) through being deprived of something; to pay for (something one has done).
  4. 4
    To bribe.
  5. 5
    To be equivalent to in value.
  6. 6
    to accept as true; to believe
  7. 7
    To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a drink, meal or gift)
  8. 8
    To make a bluff, usually a large one.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Who'd Father buy the car for? He bought it for me, not for you.
  2. Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.

Etymology

From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”). Cognate with Scots buy (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen (“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean (“to buy”), Old Norse byggja (“to build, settle”), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bugjan, “to buy”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.

Synonyms

cheappurchaseacceptbelieveswallowtake onmake a buyabybuyprocuresnap up

Antonyms

cheapsellvenddisbelieverejectpitchbarterpaysteal

This word in other languages

comprar(Español)acheter(Français)kaufen(Deutsch)comprar(Português)

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 "buy"?
"buy" is spelled B-U-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /baɪ/.
What does "buy" mean?
As a verb, "buy" means: To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.
What words are commonly confused with "buy"?
"buy" is commonly confused with "by", "BW", "BX". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "buy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "buy" is /baɪ/. 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 "buy"?
From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-Europ... 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 "buy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

age#475red#480low#468saw#459

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list