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charge

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "charge", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "charge" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "charge" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

charge is aEnglishnoun. It means: The amount of money levied for a service. Pronounced /t͡ʃɑːd͡ʒ/. It ranks #1,012 in English word frequency. Often confused with chart and chase.

Key facts for charge
PropertyValue
Headwordcharge
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/t͡ʃɑːd͡ʒ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,012
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of charge in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for charge is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /t͡ʃɑːd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,012 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 21 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for charge, with forms such as "cahrge", "ccharge", and "chagre". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "chart", "chase", "charm", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós Proto-Celtic *karros Gaulish *karrosbor. Late Latin carrus Late Latin -ico Late Latin carricō Late Latin carricāre Old French chargierder. Middle English chargen … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is charge, spelled C-H-A-R-G-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The amount of money levied for a service.
  2. 2
    An attack in which combatants rush towards an enemy in an attempt to engage in close combat.
  3. 3
    A forceful forward movement.
  4. 4
    An accusation.
  5. 5
    An accusation.
  6. 6
    An electric charge.
  7. 7
    The scope of someone's responsibility.
  8. 8
    Someone or something entrusted to one's care, such as a child to a babysitter or a student to a teacher.
  9. 9
    A load or burden; cargo.
  10. 10
    An instruction.
  11. 11
    A mortgage.
  12. 12
    An offensive foul in which the player with the ball moves into a stationary defender.
  13. 13
    A measured amount of powder and/or shot in a cartridge.
  14. 14
    A measured amount of explosive.
  15. 15
    An image displayed on an escutcheon.
  16. 16
    A position (of a weapon) fitted for attack.
  17. 17
    A sort of plaster or ointment.
  18. 18
    Weight; import; value.
  19. 19
    A measure of thirty-six pigs of lead, each pig weighing about seventy pounds; a charre.
  20. 20
    An address given at a church service concluding a visitation.
  21. 21
    Cannabis.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós Proto-Celtic *karros Gaulish *karrosbor. Late Latin carrus Late Latin -ico Late Latin carricō Late Latin carricāre Old French chargierder. Middle English chargen English charge From Middle English chargen, from Old French chargier, from Late Latin carricō (“to load”), from Latin carrus (“a car, wagon”); see car. Doublet of cargo.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cahrge,ccharge,chagre,chareg,chargge,charrge,chharge,chrage,hcarge

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for charge

Misspelling Variants of "charge"

cahrge6ccharge7chagre6chareg6chargge7charrge7chharge7chrage6
Misspelling Variants of "charge"

Frequency rank: #1,012 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "charge"?
"charge" is spelled C-H-A-R-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /t͡ʃɑːd͡ʒ/.
What does "charge" mean?
As a noun, "charge" means: The amount of money levied for a service.
What words are commonly confused with "charge"?
"charge" is commonly confused with "chart", "chase", "charm". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "charge"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "charge" is /t͡ʃɑːd͡ʒ/. 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 "charge"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós Proto-Celtic *karros Gaulish *karrosbor. Late Latin carrus Late Latin -ico Late Latin carricō Late Latin carricāre Old French chargierder. Middle Englis... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.