farrow

/ˈfæɹəʊ/

//ˈfæɹəʊ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“farrow” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #31,554. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#31,554
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A litter of piglets.

Corpus desk

Index EN-farrow · farrow · English

farrow · rank #31,554 · 7 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #31,554
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH FAO

Nearest frequency peer: FAO (-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 “farrow”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “farrow” 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).

farrow vs furrow
83% similar
farrow vs Farr
50% similar
farrow vs faro
67% similar

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

Key facts for farrow
PropertyValue
Headwordfarrow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfæɹəʊ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#31,554
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “farrow”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).farrowlands 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 “FAO” (#31,553), “Fawcett” (#31,555), “fanboy” (#31,552). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “farrow” is #31,554. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around farrow (IPA /ˈfæɹəʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #31,554 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A litter of piglets.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for farrow, with forms such as "afrrow", "farorw", and "farow". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "furrow", "Farr", "faro", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *farow, *fargh (found only in the plural faren), from Old English fearh (“piglet”), from Proto-West Germanic *farh, from Proto-Germanic *farhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *pórḱos, from *perḱ- (“to dig”). See also Old High German farah, Mi… The correct English form is farrow, spelled F-A-R-R-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    A litter of piglets.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Aha! I know you, gammer! Hamlet, revenge! The old sow that eats her farrow!
  2. At full speed he ran into a pigsty, where a sow was lying on her side with a farrow of eleven tugging at her.

Etymology

From Middle English *farow, *fargh (found only in the plural faren), from Old English fearh (“piglet”), from Proto-West Germanic *farh, from Proto-Germanic *farhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *pórḱos, from *perḱ- (“to dig”). See also Old High German farah, Middle Irish orc (“piglet”), Latin porcus, Proto-Slavic *porsę (“pig, piglet”), Lithuanian par̃šas, Avestan: 𐬞𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬯𐬀 (pər^əsa). Doublet of pork.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • afrrow
  • farorw
  • farow
  • farroww
  • farrwo
  • ffarrow
  • frarow

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

afrrow2farorw2farow1farroww1farrwo2ffarrow1frarow2
Edit distance from "farrow"

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 "farrow"?
"farrow" is spelled F-A-R-R-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfæɹəʊ/.
What does "farrow" mean?
As a noun, "farrow" means: A litter of piglets.
What words are commonly confused with "farrow"?
"farrow" is commonly confused with "furrow", "Farr", "faro". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "farrow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "farrow" is /ˈfæɹəʊ/. 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 "farrow"?
From Middle English *farow, *fargh (found only in the plural faren), from Old English fearh (“piglet”), from Proto-West Germanic *farh, from Proto-Germanic *farhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *pórḱos, from *perḱ- (“to dig”). See also Old High German... 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 "farrow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

fanboy#31,552Felton#31,556Folsom#31,564Geller#31,572

Similar misspelling depth

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

grits7 variantsheady7 variantsdimes7 variantsHuber7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list