dhow
/daʊ/
"dhow" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dhow” is uncommon English (frequency #88,269 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #88,269
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A traditional sailing vessel used along the coasts of Arabia, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean, generally having a single mast and a lateen sail.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dhow · dhow · English
dhow · rank #88,269 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #88,269
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH Dhillon
Nearest frequency peer: Dhillon (-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 “dhow”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- derogation
derogation
11,736 corpus weight
- destructive…
destructiveness
11,734 corpus weight
- Dhillon
Dhillon
11,733 corpus weight
- dhow
dhow
11,732 corpus weight
- dicta
dicta
11,731 corpus weight
- dieback
dieback
11,729 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “dhow” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dhow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /daʊ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #88,269 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dhow” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dhow is uncommon English at frequency #88,269 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /daʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A traditional sailing vessel used along the coasts of Arabia, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean, generally having a single mast and a lateen sail.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for dhow, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic دَاو (dāw). The correct English form is dhow, spelled D-H-O-W.
Definition
- 1A traditional sailing vessel used along the coasts of Arabia, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean, generally having a single mast and a lateen sail.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dhow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I suppose I must have slept for seven or eight hours, getting the first real rest that I had had since the night before the loss of the dhow, for when I woke the sun was high in the heavens.
Joshua continued preparing breakfast, Bijan returned to piloting the dhow offshore and Pourghasem returned to his watch.[…]Several dhows were on the water and some fishermen were already at work.
Etymology
From Arabic دَاو (dāw).
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 "dhow", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).