cloth

/klɒθ/

//klɒθ// noun

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

"cloth" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cloth” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,772. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,772
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes, woven fabric specifically.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cloth · cloth · English

cloth · rank #6,772 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,772
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chapel

Nearest frequency peer: chapel (-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 “cloth”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “cloth” 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).

cloth vs cot
60% similar
cloth vs cote
60% similar
cloth vs cloud
60% similar

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

Key facts for cloth
PropertyValue
Headwordcloth
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/klɒθ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,772
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cloth”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).clothlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “chapel” (#6,771), “championships” (#6,770), “considers” (#6,774). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cloth” is #6,772. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around cloth (IPA /klɒθ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,772 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for cloth, with forms such as "ccloth", "clloth", and "cloht". 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, "cot", "cote", "cloud", 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 cloth, clath, from Old English clāþ (“cloth, clothes, covering, sail”), from Proto-Germanic *klaiþą (“garment”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gleyt- (“to cling to, cleave, stick”) (compare Albanian ngjit (“to stick, attach, glue”)),… The correct English form is cloth, spelled C-L-O-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes, woven fabric specifically.
  2. 2
    Specifically, a tablecloth, especially as spread before a meal or removed afterwards.
  3. 3
    A piece of cloth used for a particular purpose.
  4. 4
    Substance or essence; the whole of something complex.
  5. 5
    Appearance; seeming.
  6. 6
    A form of attire that represents a particular profession or status.
  7. 7
    The priesthood.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Near-synonyms: (not always differentiated) fabric, material (fabric sense), textile; see also Thesaurus:fabric
  2. In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the least elastic materials, and covered with cloth externally.

Etymology

From Middle English cloth, clath, from Old English clāþ (“cloth, clothes, covering, sail”), from Proto-Germanic *klaiþą (“garment”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gleyt- (“to cling to, cleave, stick”) (compare Albanian ngjit (“to stick, attach, glue”)), a form of *gleh₁y- (“to smear; to stick”). Cognate with Scots clath (“cloth”), North Frisian klaid (“dress, garment”), Saterland Frisian Klood (“dress, apparel”), West Frisian kleed (“cloth, article of clothing”), Dutch kleed (“robe, dress”), Low German kleed (“dress, garment”), German Kleid (“gown, dress”), Danish klæde (“cloth, dress”), Norwegian klede, Swedish kläde (“cloth”), Icelandic klæði (“cloth, dressing”), Old English clīþan (“to adhere, stick”).

Synonyms

materialstuff

This word in other languages

tela(Español)tissu(Français)Stoff(Deutsch)pano(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccloth
  • clloth
  • cloht
  • clothh
  • clotth
  • cltoh
  • colth
  • lcoth

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cloth - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccloth1clloth1cloht2clothh1clotth1cltoh2colth2lcoth2
Edit distance from "cloth"

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 "cloth"?
"cloth" is spelled C-L-O-T-H. The IPA pronunciation is /klɒθ/.
What does "cloth" mean?
As a noun, "cloth" means: A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes, woven fabric specifically.
What words are commonly confused with "cloth"?
"cloth" is commonly confused with "cot", "cote", "cloud". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cloth"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cloth" is /klɒθ/. 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 "cloth"?
From Middle English cloth, clath, from Old English clāþ (“cloth, clothes, covering, sail”), from Proto-Germanic *klaiþą (“garment”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gleyt- (“to cling to, cleave, stick”) (compare Albanian ngjit (“to stick, attach... 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 "cloth", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cease#6,769buyer#6,766burnt#6,765eager#6,781

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

assists8 variantsArabic8 variantsTaiwan8 variantsSingh8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list