cherish
/ˈt͡ʃɛɹɪʃ/
"cherish" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cherish” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,490 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #14,490
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To treat with affection, care, and tenderness; to nurture or protect with care.
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 | cherish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈt͡ʃɛɹɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #14,490 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cherish” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cherish is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈt͡ʃɛɹɪʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,490 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for cherish, with forms such as "ccherish", "cehrish", and "cheirsh". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "Chris", "Christ", "cherished", 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 charish, cherishen (“to have affection for, hold dear, treat kindly; to esteem, respect; to cherish; to take care of; to greet; to entertain, treat hospitably; to cheer; to encourage, incite”), from Old French cheriss-, chieriss-, extend… The correct English form is cherish, spelled C-H-E-R-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1To treat with affection, care, and tenderness; to nurture or protect with care.
- 2To have a deep appreciation of; to hold dear.
- 3To cheer, to gladden.
Etymology
From Middle English charish, cherishen (“to have affection for, hold dear, treat kindly; to esteem, respect; to cherish; to take care of; to greet; to entertain, treat hospitably; to cheer; to encourage, incite”), from Old French cheriss-, chieriss-, extended stem of cherir, chierir (“to cherish”) (modern French chérir (“to cherish”)), from cher, chier (“dear, dearest”) (from Latin cārus (“beloved, dear”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂- (“to desire, wish”)) + -ir (suffix forming infinitives of second conjugation verbs).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccherish,cehrish,cheirsh,cherihs,cherishh,cherissh,cherrish,chersih,chherish,chreish,hcerish
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cherish - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "cherish"?
What does "cherish" mean?
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Using “cherish”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-E-R-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈt͡ʃɛɹɪʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Chris” - see the side-by-side comparison. cherish vs Chris
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.