cash

/kæʃ/

//kæʃ// noun

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

"cash" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cash” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,264. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,264
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Money in the form of notes or bills and coins, as opposed to checks, credit or electronic transactions.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cash · cash · English

cash · rank #1,264 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,264
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH beach

Nearest frequency peer: beach (-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 “cash”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “cash” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

cash vs ch
50% similar
cash vs cs
50% similar
cash vs cat
50% similar

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

Key facts for cash
PropertyValue
Headwordcash
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kæʃ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,264
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cash”

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).cashlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “beach” (#1,263), “clearly” (#1,265), “band” (#1,262). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cash” is #1,264. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around cash (IPA /kæʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,264 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 cash, with forms such as "acsh", "cahs", and "cashh". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ch", "cs", "cat", 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 late Middle French caisse (“money-box”), itself borrowed from Occitan caissa, from Latin capsa (“box”), ultimately from capiō (“take, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“grasp”). Doublet of case, chase, and chasse. Compare Spanish caja (“box”). The correct English form is cash, spelled C-A-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Money in the form of notes or bills and coins, as opposed to checks, credit or electronic transactions.
  2. 2
    Liquid assets, money that can be traded quickly, as distinct from assets that are invested and cannot be easily exchanged.
  3. 3
    Money.
  4. 4
    Cash register, or the counter in a business where the cash register is located.
  5. 5
    An instance of winning a cash prize.
  6. 6
    A place where money is kept, or where it is deposited and paid out; a money box.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. After you bounced those checks last time, they want to be paid in cash.
  2. When a man bargains for the price of maintaining such or such principles, or of endeavouring to make out such or such a case, without believing in the soundness of the principles or the truth of the case; such a man, whether he touch the cash (or paper-money) before or after the performance of his work, and whether he work with his tongue or his pen, may,…

Etymology

From late Middle French caisse (“money-box”), itself borrowed from Occitan caissa, from Latin capsa (“box”), ultimately from capiō (“take, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“grasp”). Doublet of case, chase, and chasse. Compare Spanish caja (“box”).

This word in other languages

efectivo(Español)espèces(Français)Bargeld(Deutsch)dinheiro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acsh
  • cahs
  • cashh
  • cassh
  • ccash
  • csah

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cash - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

acsh2cahs2cashh1cassh1ccash1csah2
Edit distance from "cash"

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 "cash"?
"cash" is spelled C-A-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /kæʃ/.
What does "cash" mean?
As a noun, "cash" means: Money in the form of notes or bills and coins, as opposed to checks, credit or electronic transactions.
What words are commonly confused with "cash"?
"cash" is commonly confused with "ch", "cs", "cat". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cash"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cash" is /kæʃ/. 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 "cash"?
From late Middle French caisse (“money-box”), itself borrowed from Occitan caissa, from Latin capsa (“box”), ultimately from capiō (“take, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“grasp”). Doublet of case, chase, and chasse. Compare Spanish caja ... 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 "cash", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

band#1,262lack#1,274ship#1,254none#1,251

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

ended6 variantsRussia6 variantscalls6 variantsimage6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list