cru

/kɹuː/

//kɹuː// noun

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

"cru" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cru” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #40,193) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#40,193
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A vineyard or group of vineyards in France, especially one having a high reputation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cru · cru · English

cru · rank #40,193 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #40,193
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH crony

Nearest frequency peer: crony (-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 “cru”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “cru” 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).

cru vs CT
0% similar
cru vs cs
33% similar
cru vs CV
0% similar

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

Key facts for cru
PropertyValue
Headwordcru
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹuː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#40,193
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cru” sits in English frequency

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).crulands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “crony” (#40,192), “cryptographic” (#40,194), “creepers” (#40,191). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for cru is neighbouring look-alikes ("CT", "cs", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /kɹuː/. Frequency #40,193 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Gloss: "A vineyard or group of vineyards in France, especially one having a high reputation.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for cru, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CT", "cs", "CV", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French cru (“growth”), from French crû, past participle of French croître (“grow”). The correct English form is cru, spelled C-R-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    A vineyard or group of vineyards in France, especially one having a high reputation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Each cru has an official quality rating on a scale of 100: Grand cru vineyards all rate 100, and premier cru vineyards rank from 90 to 99 points.

Etymology

Borrowed from French cru (“growth”), from French crû, past participle of French croître (“grow”).

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 "cru"?
"cru" is spelled C-R-U. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹuː/.
What does "cru" mean?
As a noun, "cru" means: A vineyard or group of vineyards in France, especially one having a high reputation.
What words are commonly confused with "cru"?
"cru" is commonly confused with "CT", "cs", "CV". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cru"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cru" is /kɹuː/. 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 "cru"?
Borrowed from French cru (“growth”), from French crû, past participle of French croître (“grow”). 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 "cru", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

CSM#40,195cay#40,168FIS#40,245aro#40,124

What to do next

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

  • "cru" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "CT". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #40,193 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