dam

/dæm/

//dæm// noun

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

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

The verdict

“dam” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5,410) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#5,410
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulat...

Corpus desk

Index EN-dam · dam · English

dam · rank #5,410 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,410
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH crush

Nearest frequency peer: crush (-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 “dam”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “dam” 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).

dam vs do
33% similar
dam vs Dr
0% similar
dam vs de
33% similar

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

Key facts for dam
PropertyValue
Headworddam
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dæm/
Letters3
Frequency rank#5,410
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dam” 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).damlands 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 “crush” (#5,409), “decrease” (#5,411), “defeated” (#5,412). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for dam is neighbouring look-alikes ("do", "Dr", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /dæm/. Frequency #5,410 among 3,470 “D” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

dam has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "do", "Dr", "de", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dam, from Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz. The correct English form is dam, spelled D-A-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding.
  2. 2
    The water reservoir resulting from placing such a structure.
  3. 3
    A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet during dental work, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.
  4. 4
    A reservoir.
  5. 5
    A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A dam is often an essential source of water to farmers of hilly country.
  2. Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins[…]

Etymology

From Middle English dam, from Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

This word in other languages

presa(Español)barrage(Français)Talsperre(Deutsch)barragem(Português)

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 "dam"?
"dam" is spelled D-A-M. The IPA pronunciation is /dæm/.
What does "dam" mean?
As a noun, "dam" means: A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulat...
What words are commonly confused with "dam"?
"dam" is commonly confused with "do", "Dr", "de". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dam"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dam" is /dæm/. 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 "dam"?
From Middle English dam, from Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz. 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 "dam", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

HIV#5,421IDK#5,422jam#5,426rat#5,446

What to do next

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

  • "dam" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "do". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #5,410 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–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