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drop

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "drop", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "drop" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "drop" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

drop is aEnglishnoun. It means: A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid. Pronounced /dɹɒp/. It ranks #1,103 in English word frequency. Often confused with dry and duo.

Key facts for drop
PropertyValue
Headworddrop
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɹɒp/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,103
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of drop in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for drop is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɹɒp/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,103 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 44 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for drop, with forms such as "ddrop", "dorp", and "dropp". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dry", "duo", "dup", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *dropōn Old English dropian Middle English droppen Proto-Indo-European *dʰrbʰ-néh₂- Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- Proto-Germanic *dreupaną Proto-Germanic *druppōną Proto-Germanic *drupô Proto-West Germanic *dropō Old Englis… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is drop, spelled D-R-O-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid.
  2. 2
    A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid.
  3. 3
    A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid.
  4. 4
    A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.
  5. 5
    A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.
  6. 6
    A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.
  7. 7
    A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.
  8. 8
    That which hangs or resembles a liquid globule, such as a hanging diamond earring or ornament, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc.
  9. 9
    That which hangs or resembles a liquid globule, such as a hanging diamond earring or ornament, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc.
  10. 10
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  11. 11
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  12. 12
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  13. 13
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  14. 14
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  15. 15
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  16. 16
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  17. 17
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  18. 18
    A thing which drops or hangs down.
  19. 19
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  20. 20
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  21. 21
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  22. 22
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  23. 23
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  24. 24
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  25. 25
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  26. 26
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  27. 27
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  28. 28
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  29. 29
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  30. 30
    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
  31. 31
    A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate.
  32. 32
    A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate.
  33. 33
    A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate.
  34. 34
    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level.
  35. 35
    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level.
  36. 36
    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level.
  37. 37
    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level.
  38. 38
    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level.
  39. 39
    A place where items or supplies may be left for others to collect, whether openly (as with a mail drop), or secretly or illegally (as in crime or espionage); a drop-off point.
  40. 40
    Only used in get the drop on, have the drop on: an advantage.
  41. 41
    A point in a song, usually electronic music such as dubstep, house, trance, or trap, where there is a very noticeable and pleasing change in bass, tempo, and/or overall tone; a climax, a highlight.
  42. 42
    Licorice in confectionery form.
  43. 43
    An automobile with a drop-top roof, a convertible.
  44. 44
    A place (specified by an ordinal) in the batting order after the openers.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *dropōn Old English dropian Middle English droppen Proto-Indo-European *dʰrbʰ-néh₂- Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- Proto-Germanic *dreupaną Proto-Germanic *druppōną Proto-Germanic *drupô Proto-West Germanic *dropō Old English dropa ▲ Middle English droppen Middle English drope ▲ Middle English droppen Middle English droppe English drop From Late Middle English droppe, Middle English drope (“small quantity of liquid; small or least amount of something; pendant jewel; dripping of a liquid; a shower; nasal flow, catarrh; speck, spot; blemish; disease causing spots on the skin”) [and other forms], from Old English dropa (“a drop”), from Proto-West Germanic *dropō (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop (of liquid)”),, from *dreupaną (“to drip, droop”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to drip, drop”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Droupe, Druppe (“drop”), Dutch drop, drup (“droplet”), German Tropfen (“drop”), German Low German Drüpp (“drop”), Luxembourgish Drëps (“drop”), Vilamovian tropa, troppa (“drop”), Yiddish טראָפּן (tropn, “drop”), Danish dråbe (“drop”), Faroese and Icelandic dropi (“drop”), Norwegian Bokmål dråpe (“drop”), Norwegian Nynorsk drope, dråpå (“drop”), Swedish droppe (“drop”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddrop,dorp,dropp,drpo,drrop,rdop

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for drop

Misspelling Variants of "drop"

ddrop5dorp4dropp5drpo4drrop5rdop4
Misspelling Variants of "drop"

Frequency rank: #1,103 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "drop"?
"drop" is spelled D-R-O-P. The IPA pronunciation is /dɹɒp/.
What does "drop" mean?
As a noun, "drop" means: A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid.
What words are commonly confused with "drop"?
"drop" is commonly confused with "dry", "duo", "dup". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "drop"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "drop" is /dɹɒp/. 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 "drop"?
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *dropōn Old English dropian Middle English droppen Proto-Indo-European *dʰrbʰ-néh₂- Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- Proto-Germanic *dreupaną Proto-Germanic *druppōną Proto-Germanic *drupô Proto-West Germanic *dropō ... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.