door

/do(ː)ɹ/

//do(ː)ɹ// noun

"door" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“door” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #869) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#869
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A portal of entry into a building, room, or vehicle, typically consisting of a rigid plane movable on a hinge. It may have a handle to help open and close, a latch to hold it closed, and a lock tha...

Corpus desk

Index EN-door · door · English

door · rank #869 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #869
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH currently

Nearest frequency peer: currently (-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 “door”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “door” 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).

door vs Dr
25% similar
door vs duo
50% similar
door vs dot
50% similar

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

Key facts for door
PropertyValue
Headworddoor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/do(ː)ɹ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#869
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “door” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). door lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for door is neighbouring look-alikes ("Dr", "duo", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /do(ː)ɹ/. Frequency #869 among 3,470 “D” headwords. 9 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for door, with forms such as "ddoor", "doorr", and "doro". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Dr", "duo", "dot", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dore, dor, from Old English duru (“door”), dor (“gate”), from Proto-West Germanic *dur, from Proto-Germanic *durz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwṓr, from *dʰwer- (“doorway, door, gate”). Cognates Cognate with Scots door (“door”), Saterlan… The correct English form is door, spelled D-O-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A portal of entry into a building, room, or vehicle, typically consisting of a rigid plane movable on a hinge. It may have a handle to help open and close, a latch to hold it closed, and a lock that ensures it cannot be opened without a key.
  2. 2
    A building with a door, especially a house.
  3. 3
    Any flap, etc. that opens like a door.
  4. 4
    An entry point.
  5. 5
    A means of approach or access.
  6. 6
    A possibility.
  7. 7
    A barrier.
  8. 8
    A software mechanism by which a user can interact with a program running remotely on a bulletin board system. See BBS door.
  9. 9
    The proceeds from entrance fees and/or ticket sales at a venue such as a bar or nightclub, especially in relation to portion paid to the entertainers.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I knocked on the vice president's door.
  2. Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.

Etymology

From Middle English dore, dor, from Old English duru (“door”), dor (“gate”), from Proto-West Germanic *dur, from Proto-Germanic *durz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwṓr, from *dʰwer- (“doorway, door, gate”). Cognates Cognate with Scots door (“door”), Saterland Frisian Doore (“door”), West Frisian doar (“door”), Dutch deur (“door”), German Low German Door, Döör (“door”), German Tür (“door”), Tor (“gate”), Danish, Norn, and Norwegian dør (“door”), Faroese and Icelandic dyr (“door”), Asturian, Aragonese, and Spanish fuera (“outside”), Catalan, Leonese, and Portuguese fora (“outside”), French hors (“outside”), Galician fóra (“outside”), Italian fuori (“outside”), Mirandese fuora (“outside”), Latin foris and foras (“outside”), Ancient Greek θύρα (thúra), Albanian derë (“door”), Central Kurdish دەرگە (derge, “door”), Northern Kurdish derî (“door”), Persian در (dar, “door”), Belarusian дзве́ры (dzvjéry, “door”), Bulgarian две́ри (dvéri, “royal doors”), Czech dveře (“door”), Latvian durvis (“door”), Lithuanian durys (“door”), Macedonian двер (dver, “door”), Polish drzwi (“door”), Russian дверь (dverʹ), Serbo-Croatian dvȇri (“door”), dvar (“door”), Ukrainian две́рі (dvéri, “door”), Hindi द्वार (dvār, “door”), Armenian դուռ (duṙ, “door”), Irish doras (“door”), Sanskrit द्वार (dvāra, “door”). Despite similarities in spelling, not cognate with Dutch door, which is instead cognate with English through.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddoor
  • doorr
  • doro

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of door - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ddoor1doorr1doro2
Edit distance from "door"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "door"?
"door" is spelled D-O-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /do(ː)ɹ/.
What does "door" mean?
As a noun, "door" means: A portal of entry into a building, room, or vehicle, typically consisting of a rigid plane movable on a hinge. It may have a handle to help open and close, a latch to hold it closed, and a lock tha...
What words are commonly confused with "door"?
"door" is commonly confused with "Dr", "duo", "dot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "door"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "door" is /do(ː)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 "door"?
From Middle English dore, dor, from Old English duru (“door”), dor (“gate”), from Proto-West Germanic *dur, from Proto-Germanic *durz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwṓr, from *dʰwer- (“doorway, door, gate”). Cognates Cognate with Scots door (“door”)... 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 "door", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

What to do next

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

  • "door" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Dr". View pair
  • 3 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #869 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