calve

/kɑːv/

//kɑːv// verb

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

"calve" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“calve” is uncommon English (frequency #99,070 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,070
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To give birth to a calf.

Corpus desk

Index EN-calve · calve · English

calve · rank #99,070 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,070
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Calderdale

Nearest frequency peer: Calderdale (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “calve”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “calve” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for calve
PropertyValue
Headwordcalve
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/kɑːv/
Letters5
Frequency rank#99,070
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “calve” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).calvefalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Calderdale” (#99,069), “calamine” (#99,068), “caprese” (#99,072). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “calve” is #99,070. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

calve is uncommon English at frequency #99,070 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /kɑːv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for calve in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English calven, from Old English *calfian, cealfian, from Proto-West Germanic *kalbōn, from Proto-Germanic *kalbōną (“to calve”), from *kalbaz (“calf”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian koolvje, Dutch kalven, German Low German kalven, German kalbe… The correct English form is calve, spelled C-A-L-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To give birth to a calf.
  2. 2
    To assist in a cow’s giving birth to a calf.
  3. 3
    To give birth to (a calf).
  4. 4
    To shed a large piece, e.g. an iceberg or a smaller block of ice (coming off an iceberg).
  5. 5
    To break off.
  6. 6
    To shed (a large piece, e.g. an iceberg); to set loose (a mass of ice), e.g. a block of ice (coming off an iceberg).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The farmer could tell Bessie was about to calve.
  2. The farmer calved Bessie for almost two hours.

Etymology

From Middle English calven, from Old English *calfian, cealfian, from Proto-West Germanic *kalbōn, from Proto-Germanic *kalbōną (“to calve”), from *kalbaz (“calf”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian koolvje, Dutch kalven, German Low German kalven, German kalben, Swedish kalva, Icelandic kálfa.

This word in other languages

vêler(Français)kalben(Deutsch)

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 "calve"?
"calve" is spelled C-A-L-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kɑːv/.
What does "calve" mean?
As a verb, "calve" means: To give birth to a calf.
How do you pronounce "calve"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "calve" is /kɑːv/. 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 "calve"?
From Middle English calven, from Old English *calfian, cealfian, from Proto-West Germanic *kalbōn, from Proto-Germanic *kalbōną (“to calve”), from *kalbaz (“calf”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian koolvje, Dutch kalven, German Low German kalven, Ge... 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 "calve", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Cheam#99,094Berar#99,018Beith#99,016crake#99,135

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list