carve
/kɑɹv/
"carve" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“carve” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,861. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #16,861
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cut.
Corpus desk
Index EN-carve · carve · English
carve · rank #16,861 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #16,861
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH cherished
Nearest frequency peer: cherished (+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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “carve”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- CAD
CAD
83,143 corpus weight
- candidacy
candidacy
83,142 corpus weight
- carve
carve
83,140 corpus weight
- cherished
cherished
83,139 corpus weight
- climbs
climbs
83,138 corpus weight
- clubhouse
clubhouse
83,137 corpus weight
What this shows “carve” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | carve |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kɑɹv/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #16,861 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “carve”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around carve (IPA /kɑɹv/), averb. Corpus frequency is #16,861 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for carve, with forms such as "acrve", "carev", and "carrve". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "case", "core", "cure", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English kerven, from Old English ceorfan, from Proto-West Germanic *kerban, from Proto-Germanic *kerbaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”). Cognate with West Frisian kerve, Dutch kerven, Low German karven, German kerben (“to notch… The correct English form is carve, spelled C-A-R-V-E.
Definition
- 1To cut.
- 2To cut meat in order to serve it.
- 3To shape to sculptural effect; to produce (a work) by cutting, or to cut (a material) into a finished work, especially with cuts that are curved rather than only straight slices.
- 4To perform a series of turns without pivoting, so that the tip and tail of the snowboard take the same path.
- 5To take or make, as by cutting; to provide.
- 6To lay out; to contrive; to design; to plan.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how carve appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
My good blade carves the casques of men, / My tough lance thrusteth sure, / My strength is as the strength of ten, / Because my heart is pure.
You carve the roast and I’ll serve the vegetables.
Etymology
From Middle English kerven, from Old English ceorfan, from Proto-West Germanic *kerban, from Proto-Germanic *kerbaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”). Cognate with West Frisian kerve, Dutch kerven, Low German karven, German kerben (“to notch”); also Old Prussian gīrbin (“number”), Old Church Slavonic жрѣбии (žrěbii, “lot, tallymark”), Ancient Greek γράφειν (gráphein, “to scratch, etch”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- acrve
- carev
- carrve
- carvve
- cavre
- ccarve
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of carve - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "carve", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).