faith

/feɪθ/

//feɪθ// noun

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

The verdict

“faith” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,597. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,597
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A trust or confidence in the intentions or abilities of a person, object, or ideal from prior empirical evidence.

Corpus desk

Index EN-faith · faith · English

faith · rank #1,597 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,597
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH failed

Nearest frequency peer: failed (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “faith”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “faith” 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).

faith vs fit
60% similar
faith vs fat
60% similar
faith vs fast
60% similar

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

Key facts for faith
PropertyValue
Headwordfaith
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/feɪθ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,597
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “faith”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).faithlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “failed” (#1,596), “fashion” (#1,598), “estate” (#1,595). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “faith” is #1,597. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around faith (IPA /feɪθ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,597 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for faith, with forms such as "afith", "faiht", and "faithh". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fit", "fat", "fast", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English faith (also fay), borrowed from Old French fei, feid, from Latin fidem. Displaced native Old English ġelēafa, which was also a word for belief. * Old French had [θ] as a final devoiced allophone of /ð/ from lenited Latin /d/; this eventu… The correct English form is faith, spelled F-A-I-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A trust or confidence in the intentions or abilities of a person, object, or ideal from prior empirical evidence.
  2. 2
    A conviction about abstractions, ideas, or beliefs, without empirical evidence, experience, or observation.
  3. 3
    A religious or spiritual belief system.
  4. 4
    An obligation of loyalty or fidelity and the observance of such an obligation.
  5. 5
    Credibility or truth.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The faithfulness of Old Faithful gives us faith in it.
  2. I have faith in the goodness of my fellow man.

Etymology

From Middle English faith (also fay), borrowed from Old French fei, feid, from Latin fidem. Displaced native Old English ġelēafa, which was also a word for belief. * Old French had [θ] as a final devoiced allophone of /ð/ from lenited Latin /d/; this eventually fell silent in the 12th century. The -th of the Middle English forms is most straightforwardly accounted for as a direct borrowing of a French [θ]. However, it has also been seen as arising from alteration of a French form with -d under influence of English abstract nouns in the suffix -th (e.g., truth, ruth, health, etc.), or as a recharacterization of a French form like fay, fey, fei with the same suffix. Compare Champenois fiate, fiaite, showing the same preservation of the final consonant.

Synonyms

beliefconfidencetrustconvictionsystem of religious belief

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • afith
  • faiht
  • faithh
  • faitth
  • fatih
  • ffaith
  • fiath

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of faith - 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.

afith2faiht2faithh1faitth1fatih2ffaith1fiath2
Edit distance from "faith"

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 "faith"?
"faith" is spelled F-A-I-T-H. The IPA pronunciation is /feɪθ/.
What does "faith" mean?
As a noun, "faith" means: A trust or confidence in the intentions or abilities of a person, object, or ideal from prior empirical evidence.
What words are commonly confused with "faith"?
"faith" is commonly confused with "fit", "fat", "fast". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "faith"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faith" is /feɪθ/. 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 "faith"?
From Middle English faith (also fay), borrowed from Old French fei, feid, from Latin fidem. Displaced native Old English ġelēafa, which was also a word for belief. * Old French had [θ] as a final devoiced allophone of /ð/ from lenited Latin /d/; t... 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 "faith", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list