endow

/ɪnˈdaʊ/

//ɪnˈdaʊ// verb

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

"endow" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“endow” is uncommon English (frequency #57,372 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,372
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To give property to (someone) as a gift; specifically, to provide (a person or institution) with support in the form of a permanent fund of money or other benefits.

Corpus desk

Index EN-endow · endow · English

endow · rank #57,372 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,372
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH endeavored

Nearest frequency peer: endeavored (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “endow”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “endow” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for endow
PropertyValue
Headwordendow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ɪnˈdaʊ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#57,372
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “endow” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).endowfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “endeavored” (#57,371), “encyclical” (#57,370), “eschatology” (#57,374). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “endow” is #57,372. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

endow is uncommon English at frequency #57,372 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɪnˈdaʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for endow, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English endowen, endouen, enduen, indouen, indw (“to provide with assets, a livelihood, or privileges; to bestow, grant; (figuratively) to favour; to endow”), from Anglo-Norman endouer, from Old French en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + doue… The correct English form is endow, spelled E-N-D-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    To give property to (someone) as a gift; specifically, to provide (a person or institution) with support in the form of a permanent fund of money or other benefits.
  2. 2
    To enrich or furnish with some faculty or quality.
  3. 3
    To naturally furnish (with something).
  4. 4
    To provide with a dower (“the portion that a widow receives from her deceased husband's property”) or a dowry (“property given to a bride”).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. His [John, King of England's] Acts and Orders for the VVeale-publike vvere beyond moſt: hee being either the firſt, or the chiefeſt, vvho appointed thoſe noble Formes of Ciuill gouernement in London, and moſt Cities, and Incorporate Tovvnes of England, endovving them alſo vvith their greateſt Franchiſes; […]
  2. Men began to build Churches on their own Grounds, at their own Charges, and to endow theſe; and they were naturally the Maſters, and in the true Signification of the Roman word, the Patrons of them.

Etymology

From Late Middle English endowen, endouen, enduen, indouen, indw (“to provide with assets, a livelihood, or privileges; to bestow, grant; (figuratively) to favour; to endow”), from Anglo-Norman endouer, from Old French en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + douer (“to endow”) (from Latin dōtāre (present active infinitive of dōtō (“to endow”)); modern French douer). Dōtō is derived from dōs (“dowry; endowment, gift”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).

This word in other languages

dotar(Español)doter(Français)ausstatten(Deutsch)custear(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 "endow"?
"endow" is spelled E-N-D-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪnˈdaʊ/.
What does "endow" mean?
As a verb, "endow" means: To give property to (someone) as a gift; specifically, to provide (a person or institution) with support in the form of a permanent fund of money or other benefits.
How do you pronounce "endow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "endow" is /ɪnˈdaʊ/. 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 "endow"?
From Late Middle English endowen, endouen, enduen, indouen, indw (“to provide with assets, a livelihood, or privileges; to bestow, grant; (figuratively) to favour; to endow”), from Anglo-Norman endouer, from Old French en- (prefix meaning ‘in, int... 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 "endow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fosse#57,393gluck#57,408Danni#57,322Cuzco#57,319

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list