by George
"by-george" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“by George” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - By God! Expressing wonderment or zeal.
Corpus desk
Index EN-by-george · by George · English
by George · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | by George |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “by George” in English
Rare enough to double-check
by George is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "By God! Expressing wonderment or zeal.".
by George doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: "By (God and Saint) George" is an old English oath invoked immediately before charging into battle as late as World War I. Versions of this oath can be found in several of William Shakespeare's plays: including: *Henry VI, Part 1 (written circa 1591 and set… The correct English form is by George, spelled B-Y- -G-E-O-R-G-E.
Definition
- 1By God! Expressing wonderment or zeal.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how by George appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Heaven knows, I cannot find it in my heart to blame you, but this much I will say, be it kind or unkind: when Captain Smollett was well, you dared not have gone off; and when he was ill and couldn’t help it, by George, it was downright cowardly!
"Look at Clive - just a clerk, and he conquered India! By George! I'll do something in the world yet!" She laughed at my sudden Irish effervescence.
Etymology
"By (God and Saint) George" is an old English oath invoked immediately before charging into battle as late as World War I. Versions of this oath can be found in several of William Shakespeare's plays: including: *Henry VI, Part 1 (written circa 1591 and set in 1431): **"God and Saint George, Talbot and England's right, Prosper our colours in this dangerous fight!" **"Saint George and victory! Fight, soldiers, fight!" *Henry VI, Part 3 (written circa 1591 and set 1460 to 1471): **"Then strike up drums; God and Saint George for us!"; **"For Warwick and his friends, God and Saint George!" **"Lords, to the field; Saint George and victory!" * Richard III: "God and Saint George! Richmond and victory!" * Henry V: "Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'"
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.