crane

/kɹeɪn/

//kɹeɪn// noun

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

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

The verdict

“crane” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,021. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,021
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 bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.

Corpus desk

Index EN-crane · crane · English

crane · rank #8,021 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,021
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cracking

Nearest frequency peer: cracking (-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 “crane”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “crane” 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).

crane vs crap
60% similar
crane vs Cree
40% similar
crane vs cray
60% similar

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

Key facts for crane
PropertyValue
Headwordcrane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹeɪn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,021
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “crane”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).cranelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “cracking” (#8,020), “debris” (#8,022), “countryside” (#8,019). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “crane” is #8,021. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around crane (IPA /kɹeɪn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,021 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for crane, with forms such as "ccrane", "craen", and "cranne". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "crap", "Cree", "cray", 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 crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”). Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German … The correct English form is crane, spelled C-R-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
  2. 2
    Ardea herodias, the great blue heron.
  3. 3
    A mechanical lifting machine or device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes.
  4. 4
    An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace for supporting kettles etc. over the fire.
  5. 5
    A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask.
  6. 6
    A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Flotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises.
  2. Large cranes were virtually non-existent in the areas I worked with this truck, so we jacked everything on and off[.]

Etymology

From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”). Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German Low German Kroon (“crane”), German Kran (“crane”). The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.

This word in other languages

grulla(Español)grue(Français)Kranich(Deutsch)grou(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccrane
  • craen
  • cranne
  • crnae
  • crrane
  • rcane

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccrane1craen2cranne1crnae2crrane1rcane2
Edit distance from "crane"

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 "crane"?
"crane" is spelled C-R-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹeɪn/.
What does "crane" mean?
As a noun, "crane" means: Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
What words are commonly confused with "crane"?
"crane" is commonly confused with "crap", "Cree", "cray". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "crane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crane" is /kɹeɪn/. 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 "crane"?
From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”). Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”... 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 "crane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

donor#8,026betty#8,011Essex#8,032baked#8,008

Similar misspelling depth

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

lend6 variantsMarco6 variantsmint6 variantssiege6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list