ferry
/ˈfɛɹ.i/
"ferry" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ferry” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,904. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #6,904
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To carry; transport; convey.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ferry · ferry · English
ferry · rank #6,904 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #6,904
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH fisher
Nearest frequency peer: fisher (+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 “ferry”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- equation
equation
93,100 corpus weight
- extract
extract
93,099 corpus weight
- ferry
ferry
93,097 corpus weight
- fisher
fisher
93,096 corpus weight
- flexibility
flexibility
93,095 corpus weight
- flowing
flowing
93,094 corpus weight
What this shows “ferry” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ferry |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈfɛɹ.i/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #6,904 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “ferry”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around ferry (IPA /ˈfɛɹ.i/), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,904 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for ferry, with forms such as "efrry", "ferryy", and "fery". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fry", "fey", "fury", 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 ferien (“to carry, convey, convey in a boat”), from Old English ferian (“to carry, convey, bear, bring, lead, conduct, betake oneself to, be versed in, depart, go”), from Proto-West Germanic *farjan, from Proto-Germanic *farjaną (“to mak… The correct English form is ferry, spelled F-E-R-R-Y.
Definition
- 1To carry; transport; convey.
- 2To move someone or something from one place to another, usually repeatedly.
- 3To carry or transport over a contracted body of water, as a river or strait, in a boat or other floating conveyance plying between opposite shores.
- 4To pass over water in a boat or by ferry.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ferry appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Trucks plowed through the water to ferry flood victims to safety.
We ferried our stock in U-Haul trailers, and across the months, as we purchased more cowflesh from the Goat Man — meat vanishing into the ether again and again, as if into some quarkish void — we became familiar enough with Sloat and his daughter to learn that her name was Flozelle, and to visit with them about matters other than stock.
Etymology
From Middle English ferien (“to carry, convey, convey in a boat”), from Old English ferian (“to carry, convey, bear, bring, lead, conduct, betake oneself to, be versed in, depart, go”), from Proto-West Germanic *farjan, from Proto-Germanic *farjaną (“to make or let go, transfer, ferry”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring or carry over, transfer, pass through”). Cognate with Dutch veren (“to ferry”), German dialectal feren, fähren (“to row, sail”), Danish færge (“to ferry”), Faroese, Icelandic ferja (“to ferry”), Norwegian Bokmål ferge, ferje (“ferry”), Norwegian Nynorsk ferja, ferje, ferju (“to ferry”), Swedish färja (“to ferry”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (farjan, “to sail, row”). Related to fare.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- efrry
- ferryy
- fery
- feryr
- fferry
- frery
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ferry - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "ferry"?
What does "ferry" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "ferry"?
How do you pronounce "ferry"?
What is the origin of the word "ferry"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ferry", 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 (6 here; floor ≥5).