by God
"by-god" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“by God” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Used as an oath to emphasize the veracity of an associated statement.
Corpus desk
Index EN-by-god · by God · English
by God · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 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 God |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “by God” in English
Rare enough to double-check
by God is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for by God in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Ellipsis of a full oath of the form "I swear by God that …". The correct English form is by God, spelled B-Y- -G-O-D.
Definition
- 1Used as an oath to emphasize the veracity of an associated statement.
- 2Used as an intensifier.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how by God appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I should not wonder if you had your orders to-morrow; but you cannot sail with this wind, if you are to cruize to the westward; Captain Walsh thinks you will certainly have a cruize to the westward, with the Elephant. By G—, I wish you may.
With a frown, Rye studies my face. He disengages my arm in order to take my hand in both of his and squeeze it tight. "Why don't you go back and confront him, sweetheart? I'll go with you, by God. I don't like the idea of him bullying you, and he needs to hear that."
Etymology
Ellipsis of a full oath of the form "I swear by God that …".
This word in other languages
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.