check
/t͡ʃɛk/
"check" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“check” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #487. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #487
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An inspection or examination.
Corpus desk
Index EN-check · check · English
check · rank #487 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #487
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH among
Nearest frequency peer: among (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “check”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- turn
turn
99,517 corpus weight
- whether
whether
99,516 corpus weight
- among
among
99,515 corpus weight
- check
check
99,514 corpus weight
- development
development
99,513 corpus weight
- form
form
99,512 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “check” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | check |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /t͡ʃɛk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #487 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “check” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around check (IPA /t͡ʃɛk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #487 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for check, with forms such as "ccheck", "cehck", and "chcek". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "chef", "cock", "Chen", 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 Middle English chek, chekke, borrowed from Old French eschek, eschec, eschac, from Medieval Latin scaccus, borrowed from Arabic شَاه (šāh, “king or check at chess, shah”), borrowed from Classical Persian شَاه (šāh, “king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠… The correct English form is check, spelled C-H-E-C-K.
Definition
- 1An inspection or examination.
- 2A control; a limit or stop.
- 3A situation in which the king is directly threatened by an opposing piece.
- 4A mark (especially a checkmark: ✓) used as an indicator.
- 5An order to a bank to pay money to a named person or entity.
- 6A bill, particularly in a restaurant.
- 7A maneuver performed by a player to take another player out of the play.
- 8A token used instead of cash in various contexts, including sign-out of company property or collection of rations (dated), in gaming machines, or in gambling generally.
- 9A lengthwise separation through the growth rings in wood.
- 10A mark, certificate, or token by which errors may be prevented, or a thing or person may be identified.
- 11The forsaking by a hawk of its proper game to follow other birds.
- 12A small chink or crack.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how check appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I don't know if she will be there, but it's worth a check.
checks and balances
Etymology
From Middle English chek, chekke, borrowed from Old French eschek, eschec, eschac, from Medieval Latin scaccus, borrowed from Arabic شَاه (šāh, “king or check at chess, shah”), borrowed from Classical Persian شَاه (šāh, “king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /šāh/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /xšāyaθiya/, “king”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kšáyati (“he rules, he has power over”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to gain power over, gain control over”). All of the English senses developed from the chess sense. Compare Saterland Frisian Schak, Schach, Dutch schaak, German Schach, Danish skak, Swedish schack, Icelandic skák, French échec, Italian scacco. See chess and shah (“king of Persia or Iran”), from the same source, as well as thig, which derives from the Germanic cognate.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccheck
- cehck
- chcek
- checck
- checkk
- chekc
- chheck
- hceck
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of check - 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.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "check"?
What does "check" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "check"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "check", 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 (8 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "check". Here's where to go from here.
- "check" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "chef". View pair
- 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #487 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.