corn

/ˈkɔːn/

//ˈkɔːn// noun

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

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

The verdict

“corn” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,206. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,206
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.

Corpus desk

Index EN-corn · corn · English

corn · rank #5,206 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,206
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH congressional

Nearest frequency peer: congressional (-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 “corn”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “corn” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

corn vs CR
0% similar
corn vs cry
50% similar
corn vs cow
50% similar

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

Key facts for corn
PropertyValue
Headwordcorn
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɔːn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,206
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “corn” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).cornlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “congressional” (#5,205), “cried” (#5,207), “confusion” (#5,204). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around corn (IPA /ˈkɔːn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,206 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for corn, with forms such as "ccorn", "conr", and "cornn". 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, "CR", "cry", "cow", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low German Ko… The correct English form is corn, spelled C-O-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.
  2. 2
    Maize, a grain crop of the species Zea mays.
  3. 3
    A grain or seed, especially of a cereal crop.
  4. 4
    A small, hard particle.
  5. 5
    A type of granular snow formed by repeated melting and refreezing, often in mountain spring conditions.
  6. 6
    Bullets, ammunition, charge and discharge of firearms.
  7. 7
    Money.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. And hee ſaid, Beholde, I haue heard that there is corne in Egypt: get you downe thither and buy for vs from thence, that we may liue, and not die.
  2. Among the divinities that dwelt on Mount Olympus, none was more friendly to the husbandman than Demeter, goddess of corn.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low German Koorn, German Korn, Danish korn, Norwegian Bokmål korn, Norwegian Nynorsk korn and Swedish korn; see also Albanian grurë, Russian зерно́ (zernó), Czech zrno, Latin grānum and Lithuanian žirnis. Doublet of grain, gram, granum, and grao. The sense maize (Zea mays) is an ellipsis of Indian corn that developed in 18th century North America.

This word in other languages

cereal(Español)maïs(Français)Getreide(Deutsch)cereal(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccorn
  • conr
  • cornn
  • corrn
  • cron
  • ocrn

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of corn - 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.

ccorn1conr2cornn1corrn1cron2ocrn2
Edit distance from "corn"

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 "corn"?
"corn" is spelled C-O-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɔːn/.
What does "corn" mean?
As a noun, "corn" means: Any cereal plant (or its grain) that is the main crop or staple of a country or region.
What words are commonly confused with "corn"?
"corn" is commonly confused with "CR", "cry", "cow". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "corn"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "corn" is /ˈkɔːn/. 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 "corn"?
Inherited from Middle English corn, from Old English corn, from Proto-West Germanic *korn, from Proto-Germanic *kurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain; worn-down”), from *ǵerh₂- (“grow old, mature”). Cognate with Dutch koren, German Low... 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 "corn", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

coin#5,201bulk#5,195boot#5,192it'd#5,229

Similar misspelling depth

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

Marie6 variantsnerve6 variantspunk6 variantssheep6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "corn". Here's where to go from here.

  • "corn" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "CR". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #5,206 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list