fish

/ˈfɪʃ/

//ˈfɪʃ// noun

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

"fish" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fish” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,339 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,339
frequency rank, English
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A typically cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

fish vs FS
0% similar
fish vs fit
50% similar
fish vs fix
50% similar

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

Key facts for fish
PropertyValue
Headwordfish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɪʃ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,339
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “fish” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for fish is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɪʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,339 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 23 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for fish, with forms such as "ffish", "fihs", and "fishh". 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, "FS", "fit", "fix", 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 fisch, from Old English fisċ (“fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *fisk, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (“fish”), from Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (“fish”). Cognates Cognate with Yola wish (“fish”), North Frisian fasch, fask, Fesk (“fish”), S… The correct English form is fish, spelled F-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A typically cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills.
  2. 2
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:
  3. 3
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:
  4. 4
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:
  5. 5
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:
  6. 6
    A paraphyletic grouping of the following taxonomic groups:
  7. 7
    Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water.
  8. 8
    Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water.
  9. 9
    Cod; codfish.
  10. 10
    The flesh of the fish used as food.
  11. 11
    An aquatic or semiaquatic animal suitable for consumption during fasting on Fridays during Lent.
  12. 12
    A card game in which the object is to obtain cards in pairs or sets of four (depending on the variation), by asking the other players for cards of a particular rank.
  13. 13
    An easy victim for swindling.
  14. 14
    A bad poker player. Compare shark (a good poker player).
  15. 15
    A makeshift overlapping longitudinal brace, originally shaped roughly like a fish, used to temporarily repair or extend a spar or mast of a ship.
  16. 16
    A purchase used to fish the anchor.
  17. 17
    A torpedo (self-propelled explosive device).
  18. 18
    The thirty-fourth Lenormand card.
  19. 19
    A (feminine) woman. (See also fishy.)
  20. 20
    A new (usually vulnerable) prisoner.
  21. 21
    A male homosexual; a gay man.
  22. 22
    A drag queen or transgender woman who looks like a cisgender woman.
  23. 23
    A spaceship.

Etymology

From Middle English fisch, from Old English fisċ (“fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *fisk, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (“fish”), from Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (“fish”). Cognates Cognate with Yola wish (“fish”), North Frisian fasch, fask, Fesk (“fish”), Saterland Frisian Fisk (“fish”), West Frisian fisk (“fish”), Cimbrian biss, visch, viss (“fish”), Dutch vis, visch (“fish”), Dutch Low Saxon, Mòcheno visch (“fish”), German Fisch (“fish”), German Low German Fösch (“fish”), Luxembourgish Fësch (“fish”), Yiddish פֿיש (fish, “fish”), Danish, Elfdalian, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish fisk (“fish”), Faroese, Icelandic fiskur (“fish”), Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (fisks, “fish”), Crimean Gothic fisct (“fish”). Compare Irish iasc (“fish”), Latin piscis (“fish”).

Synonyms

markGo Fishdonkeydonkfish

This word in other languages

pez(Español)poisson(Français)Fisch(Deutsch)peixe(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ffish,fihs,fishh,fissh,fsih,ifsh

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fish - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ffish1fihs2fishh1fissh1fsih2ifsh2
Edit distance from "fish"

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 "fish"?
"fish" is spelled F-I-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɪʃ/.
What does "fish" mean?
As a noun, "fish" means: A typically cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills.
What words are commonly confused with "fish"?
"fish" is commonly confused with "FS", "fit", "fix". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fish"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fish" is /ˈfɪʃ/. 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 "fish"?
From Middle English fisch, from Old English fisċ (“fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *fisk, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz (“fish”), from Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (“fish”). Cognates Cognate with Yola wish (“fish”), North Frisian fasch, fask, Fesk (... 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.

Using “fish”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈfɪʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “FS” - see the side-by-side comparison. fish vs FS
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list