# ebb

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɛb/ · frequency rank #27,442

## Definitions
1. The receding movement of the tide.
2. A gradual decline.
3. A low state; a state of depression.
4. A European bunting, the corn bunting (Emberiza calandra, syns. Emberiza miliaria, Milaria calandra).

## Etymology
From Middle English ebbe, from Old English ebba (“ebb, tide”), from Proto-West Germanic *abbjā, from Proto-Germanic *abjô, *abjǭ, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“off, away”), from Proto-Indo-European *apó.
See also West Frisian ebbe, Dutch eb, German Ebbe, Danish ebbe, Old Norse efja (“countercurrent”), Old English af. More at of, off.

## Easily confused with
- **ex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ex)
- **ed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ed)
- **et** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-et)
- **EU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-eu)
- **em** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-em)
- **el** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-el)
- **en** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-en)
- **eh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-eh)
- **er** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-er)
- **EP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ep)
- **ES** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-es)
- **EV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ev)
- **ee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ee)
- **ew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ew)
- **ey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ey)
- **ef** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ef)
- **ez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ez)
- **Ek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ek)
- **EI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-ei)
- **eo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ebb-vs-eo)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ebb