dray

/dɹeɪ/

//dɹeɪ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“dray” is uncommon English (frequency #56,714 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,714
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various forms of low horse-drawn cart or wagon, often without sides or with removable sides, and used especially for heavy loads.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dray · dray · English

dray · rank #56,714 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,714
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH DTC

Nearest frequency peer: DTC (+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 “dray”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “dray” 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
Key facts for dray
PropertyValue
Headworddray
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɹeɪ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#56,714
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dray” 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).draylands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “DTC” (#56,715), “Dukakis” (#56,716), “duomo” (#56,717). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dray is uncommon English at frequency #56,714 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /dɹeɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

dray has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English draye, dreye, from Old English dræġe (“dragnet”), from Proto-Germanic *dragǭ. Cognate with Middle Low German drāge (“stretcher; dray”), Middle High German trage (“a litter”). Related to Old English dragan (“to pull; draw”). More at draw. The correct English form is dray, spelled D-R-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of various forms of low horse-drawn cart or wagon, often without sides or with removable sides, and used especially for heavy loads.
  2. 2
    A kind of sledge or sled.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Let him be brought into the field of election upon his dray-cart.
  2. Standing foursquare in the heart of the town, at the intersection of the two main streets, a “jog” at each street corner left around the market-house a little public square, which at this hour was well occupied by carts and wagons from the country and empty drays awaiting hire

Etymology

From Middle English draye, dreye, from Old English dræġe (“dragnet”), from Proto-Germanic *dragǭ. Cognate with Middle Low German drāge (“stretcher; dray”), Middle High German trage (“a litter”). Related to Old English dragan (“to pull; draw”). More at draw.

This word in other languages

carreta(Español)carroça(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 "dray"?
"dray" is spelled D-R-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /dɹeɪ/.
What does "dray" mean?
As a noun, "dray" means: Any of various forms of low horse-drawn cart or wagon, often without sides or with removable sides, and used especially for heavy loads.
How do you pronounce "dray"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dray" is /dɹeɪ/. 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 "dray"?
From Middle English draye, dreye, from Old English dræġe (“dragnet”), from Proto-Germanic *dragǭ. Cognate with Middle Low German drāge (“stretcher; dray”), Middle High German trage (“a litter”). Related to Old English dragan (“to pull; draw”). Mor... 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 "dray", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Dato#56,698dall#56,694foci#56,748FOMC#56,749

What to do next

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

  • Usage frequency rank #56,714 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