dose

/dəʊs/

//dəʊs// noun

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

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

The verdict

“dose” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5,124) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#5,124
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A measured portion of medicine taken at any one time.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dose · dose · English

dose · rank #5,124 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,124
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH distinguished

Nearest frequency peer: distinguished (-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 “dose”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “dose” 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).

dose vs DS
0% similar
dose vs due
50% similar
dose vs dot
50% similar

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

Key facts for dose
PropertyValue
Headworddose
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dəʊs/
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,124
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dose” 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). dose 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 dose is neighbouring look-alikes ("DS", "due", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /dəʊs/. Frequency #5,124 among 3,470 “D” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for dose, with forms such as "ddose", "dosse", and "dsoe". 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, "DS", "due", "dot", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French dose, from Late Latin dosis, from Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis, “a portion prescribed”, literally “a giving”), used by Galen and other Greek physicians to mean an amount of medicine, from δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”). Doublet of doos. The correct English form is dose, spelled D-O-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A measured portion of medicine taken at any one time.
  2. 2
    The quantity of an agent (not always active), substance, or radiation administered or experienced at any one time.
  3. 3
    Anything disagreeable that must be taken.
  4. 4
    A good measure or lengthy experience of something.
  5. 5
    A venereal infection.
  6. 6
    A cold; a common, viral illness of the nasal passage, sometimes with fever.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Why did he give you only a single 500 mg dose? The correct dosage of this antibiotic is one 500 mg tablet twice a day for 10 days.
  2. Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese[…]began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. The poisoning was irreversible, and soon ended in psychosis and death. Nowadays workers are exposed to far lower doses and manganism is rare.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French dose, from Late Latin dosis, from Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis, “a portion prescribed”, literally “a giving”), used by Galen and other Greek physicians to mean an amount of medicine, from δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”). Doublet of doos.

This word in other languages

dosis(Español)dose(Français)Dosis(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddose
  • dosse
  • dsoe
  • odse

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddose1dosse1dsoe2odse2
Edit distance from "dose"

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 "dose"?
"dose" is spelled D-O-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /dəʊs/.
What does "dose" mean?
As a noun, "dose" means: A measured portion of medicine taken at any one time.
What words are commonly confused with "dose"?
"dose" is commonly confused with "DS", "due", "dot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dose"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dose" is /dəʊs/. 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 "dose"?
Borrowed from Middle French dose, from Late Latin dosis, from Ancient Greek δόσις (dósis, “a portion prescribed”, literally “a giving”), used by Galen and other Greek physicians to mean an amount of medicine, from δίδωμι (dídōmi, “to give”). Doubl... 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 "dose", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

flip#5,129cave#5,108beta#5,101punk#5,159

What to do next

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

  • "dose" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "DS". View pair
  • 4 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #5,124 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