daughter

/ˈdɔːtə(ɹ)/

//ˈdɔːtə(ɹ)// noun

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

"daughter" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“daughter” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #900. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#900
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One’s female offspring.

Corpus desk

Index EN-daughter · daughter · English

daughter · rank #900 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-CORE #900
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH daily

Nearest frequency peer: daily (-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 “daughter”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “daughter” 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).

daughter vs daughters
89% similar

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

Key facts for daughter
PropertyValue
Headworddaughter
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdɔːtə(ɹ)/
Letters8
Frequency rank#900
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “daughter” 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).daughterlands 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 “daily” (#899), “December” (#901), “crazy” (#898). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around daughter (IPA /ˈdɔːtə(ɹ)/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #900 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for daughter, with forms such as "adughter", "daguhter", and "daugghter". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "daughters", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English doghter, doughter, from Old English dohtor (“daughter”), from Proto-West Germanic *dohter, from Proto-Germanic *duhtēr, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tḗr. The correct English form is daughter, spelled D-A-U-G-H-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    One’s female offspring.
  2. 2
    A female descendant.
  3. 3
    A daughter language.
  4. 4
    A nuclide left over from radioactive decay.
  5. 5
    A descendant.
  6. 6
    A female character of a creator.
  7. 7
    A familiar address to a female person from an older or otherwise more authoritative person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I already have a son, so I would like to have a daughter.
  2. And ye ſhal eate the fleſh of your ſonnes, and the fleſh of your daughters ſhall ye eate.

Etymology

From Middle English doghter, doughter, from Old English dohtor (“daughter”), from Proto-West Germanic *dohter, from Proto-Germanic *duhtēr, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tḗr.

Antonyms

sonmotherfatherparent

This word in other languages

hija(Español)fille(Français)Tochter(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • adughter
  • daguhter
  • daugghter
  • daughetr
  • daughhter
  • daughterr
  • daughtre
  • daughtter
  • daugther
  • dauhgter
  • ddaughter
  • duaghter

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of daughter - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

adughter2daguhter2daugghter1daughetr2daughhter1daughterr1daughtre2daughtter1
Edit distance from "daughter"

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 "daughter"?
"daughter" is spelled D-A-U-G-H-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɔːtə(ɹ)/.
What does "daughter" mean?
As a noun, "daughter" means: One’s female offspring.
What words are commonly confused with "daughter"?
"daughter" is commonly confused with "daughters". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "daughter"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "daughter" is /ˈdɔːtə(ɹ)/. 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 "daughter"?
From Middle English doghter, doughter, from Old English dohtor (“daughter”), from Proto-West Germanic *dohter, from Proto-Germanic *duhtēr, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tḗr. 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 "daughter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

December#901hospital#905starting#915increase#877

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

difficult12 variantssystems12 variantsAustralia12 variantsinternet12 variants

What to do next

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

  • This headword has one recorded confusable pair with "daughters". View pair
  • 12 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #900 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