escrow

/ˈɛ.skɹəʊ̯/

//ˈɛ.skɹəʊ̯// noun

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

"escrow" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“escrow” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #27,449. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#27,449
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A contractual arrangement whereby money or assets are held in trust by an independent agent by the agreement of the parties, which can only be released to the relevant party once certain contractua...

Corpus desk

Index EN-escrow · escrow · English

escrow · rank #27,449 · 9 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #27,449
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH enriching

Nearest frequency peer: enriching (-3 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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “escrow”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “escrow” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

escrow vs eschew
67% similar

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

Key facts for escrow
PropertyValue
Headwordescrow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɛ.skɹəʊ̯/
Letters6
Frequency rank#27,449
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “escrow”

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).escrowlands 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 “enriching” (#27,446), “evasive” (#27,452), “emulation” (#27,445). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “escrow” is #27,449. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around escrow (IPA /ˈɛ.skɹəʊ̯/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #27,449 among 2,246 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for escrow, with forms such as "ecsrow", "esccrow", and "escorw". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "eschew", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Law French escrowe, from Old French escroe (“register, note; bit of parchment; piece”), from Frankish *skrōda (“piece”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō, derivative of Proto-Germanic *skraudaną (“to shred”). Doublet of scrow and shred an… The correct English form is escrow, spelled E-S-C-R-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    A contractual arrangement whereby money or assets are held in trust by an independent agent by the agreement of the parties, which can only be released to the relevant party once certain contractual conditions have been fulfilled.
  2. 2
    The money or assets so held.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. GCN staffers wrote and called our landlords, complaining about the building's disrepair, for months before informing them, in September, 1985, that we would pay our rent into an escrow account until repairs were made.
  2. The court will decide which party is the rightful owner of the items in escrow.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Law French escrowe, from Old French escroe (“register, note; bit of parchment; piece”), from Frankish *skrōda (“piece”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō, derivative of Proto-Germanic *skraudaną (“to shred”). Doublet of scrow and shred and partially scroll.

This word in other languages

fideicomiso(Español)Hinterlegung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ecsrow
  • esccrow
  • escorw
  • escroww
  • escrrow
  • escrwo
  • esrcow
  • esscrow
  • secrow

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of escrow - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ecsrow2esccrow1escorw2escroww1escrrow1escrwo2esrcow2esscrow1
Edit distance from "escrow"

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 "escrow"?
"escrow" is spelled E-S-C-R-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɛ.skɹəʊ̯/.
What does "escrow" mean?
As a noun, "escrow" means: A contractual arrangement whereby money or assets are held in trust by an independent agent by the agreement of the parties, which can only be released to the relevant party once certain contractua...
What words are commonly confused with "escrow"?
"escrow" is commonly confused with "eschew". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "escrow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "escrow" is /ˈɛ.skɹəʊ̯/. 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 "escrow"?
Learned borrowing from Law French escrowe, from Old French escroe (“register, note; bit of parchment; piece”), from Frankish *skrōda (“piece”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudō, derivative of Proto-Germanic *skraudaną (“to shred”). Doublet of scrow an... 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 "escrow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

earths#27,441dredge#27,438Curran#27,420covent#27,416

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

evasive9 variantsGeorgie9 variantsHackett9 variantsConnelly9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list