cwm
/kuːm/
"cwm" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cwm” is uncommon English (frequency #65,030 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,030
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A valley head created through glacial erosion and with a shape similar to an amphitheatre.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cwm · cwm · English
cwm · rank #65,030 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #65,030
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-0 0 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH cutlets
Nearest frequency peer: cutlets (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “cwm”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- crumple
crumple
34,974 corpus weight
- curvaceous
curvaceous
34,973 corpus weight
- cutlets
cutlets
34,972 corpus weight
- cwm
cwm
34,971 corpus weight
- cyberattack
cyberattack
34,970 corpus weight
- Dalmatia
Dalmatia
34,968 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “cwm” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cwm |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kuːm/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #65,030 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cwm” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cwm is uncommon English at frequency #65,030 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kuːm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A valley head created through glacial erosion and with a shape similar to an amphitheatre.".
cwm has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from Welsh cwm (“valley”). Doublet of combe. The correct English form is cwm, spelled C-W-M.
Definition
- 1A valley head created through glacial erosion and with a shape similar to an amphitheatre.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how cwm appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A fine glacier descends from Mount Longstaff. It has cut very deep and the walls stand at an angle of at least 50°. Otherwise, although there are many cwms on the lower ranges, the mountains themselves seem little carved.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Welsh cwm (“valley”). Doublet of combe.
This word in other languages
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cwm", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).