eth

/ɛð/

//ɛð// noun

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

"eth" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“eth” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #22,077) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#22,077
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A letter (capital Ð, small ð) introduced into Old English to represent its dental fricative, then not distinguished from the letter thorn, no longer used in English but still in modern use in Icela...

Corpus desk

Index EN-eth · eth · English

eth · rank #22,077 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,077
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH esports

Nearest frequency peer: esports (-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 neighbours of confusable “eth”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “eth” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

eth vs ex
33% similar
eth vs EU
0% similar
eth vs EV
0% similar

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

Key facts for eth
PropertyValue
Headwordeth
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɛð/
Letters3
Frequency rank#22,077
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “eth”

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).ethlands 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 “esports” (#22,076), “Ethereum” (#22,078), “equatorial” (#22,074). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “eth” is #22,077. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for eth is neighbouring look-alikes ("ex", "EU", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ɛð/. Frequency #22,077 among 2,246 “E” headwords. Gloss: "A letter (capital Ð, small ð) introduced into Old English to represent its dental fricative, then not distinguished from the letter thorn, no longer used in English but still in modern use in Icela...".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for eth, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ex", "EU", "EV", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: The sound /ɛ/ followed by the sound of the letter, by analogy with other letter names, such as those of f, l, and m. The correct English form is eth, spelled E-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A letter (capital Ð, small ð) introduced into Old English to represent its dental fricative, then not distinguished from the letter thorn, no longer used in English but still in modern use in Icelandic, the IPA and other phonetic alphabets to represent the voiced dental fricative "th" sound as in the English word then. The letter is also used in Faroese, but is generally silent in that language.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. In Old English manuscripts thorn and eth did not have different phonetic values but were used positionally[.]

Etymology

The sound /ɛ/ followed by the sound of the letter, by analogy with other letter names, such as those of f, l, and m.

This word in other languages

Eth(Deutsch)

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 "eth"?
"eth" is spelled E-T-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ɛð/.
What does "eth" mean?
As a noun, "eth" means: A letter (capital Ð, small ð) introduced into Old English to represent its dental fricative, then not distinguished from the letter thorn, no longer used in English but still in modern use in Icela...
What words are commonly confused with "eth"?
"eth" is commonly confused with "ex", "EU", "EV". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "eth"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "eth" is /ɛð/. 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 "eth"?
The sound /ɛ/ followed by the sound of the letter, by analogy with other letter names, such as those of f, l, and m. 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 "eth", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Edo#22,067EDM#22,066cot#22,045hui#22,115

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list