fork

/fɔːk/

//fɔːk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“fork” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,788. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,788
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:

Corpus desk

Index EN-fork · fork · English

fork · rank #6,788 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,788
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH flames

Nearest frequency peer: flames (-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 neighbourhood for “fork”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “fork” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

fork vs fox
50% similar
fork vs fur
50% similar
fork vs fry
50% similar

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

Key facts for fork
PropertyValue
Headwordfork
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/fɔːk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#6,788
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “fork” 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). fork lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around fork (IPA /fɔːk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,788 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 24 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for fork, with forms such as "ffork", "fokr", and "forkk". 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, "fox", "fur", "fry", 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 forke (“digging fork”), from Old English force, forca (“forked instrument used to torture”), from Proto-West Germanic *furkō (“fork”), from Latin furca (“pitchfork, forked stake; gallows, beam, stake, support post, yoke”), of uncertain o… The correct English form is fork, spelled F-O-R-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:
  2. 2
    Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:
  3. 3
    Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:
  4. 4
    Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:
  5. 5
    A fork in the road, as follows:
  6. 6
    A fork in the road, as follows:
  7. 7
    A point where a waterway, such as a river or other stream, splits and flows into two (or more) different directions.
  8. 8
    One of the parts into which anything is furcated or divided; a prong; a branch of a stream, a road, etc.; a barbed point, as of an arrow.
  9. 9
    A point in time where one has to make a decision between two life paths.
  10. 10
    A point in time where one has to make a decision between two life paths.
  11. 11
    (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.
  12. 12
    (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.
  13. 13
    (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.
  14. 14
    (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.
  15. 15
    (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.
  16. 16
    (software development, content management, data management) A departure from having a single source of truth (SSOT), sometimes intentionally but usually unintentionally.
  17. 17
    The simultaneous attack of two adversary pieces with one single attacking piece (especially a knight).
  18. 18
    The crotch.
  19. 19
    A forklift.
  20. 20
    Either of the blades of a forklift (or, in plural, the set of blades), on which the goods to be raised are loaded.
  21. 21
    In a bicycle or motorcycle, the portion of the frameset holding the front wheel, allowing the rider to steer and balance, also called front fork.
  22. 22
    The upper front brow of a saddle bow, connected in the tree by the two saddle bars to the cantle on the other end.
  23. 23
    A set of data associated with an individual file in some file systems.
  24. 24
    A gallows.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. a thunderbolt with three forks
  2. this fork of the river dries up during droughts

Etymology

From Middle English forke (“digging fork”), from Old English force, forca (“forked instrument used to torture”), from Proto-West Germanic *furkō (“fork”), from Latin furca (“pitchfork, forked stake; gallows, beam, stake, support post, yoke”), of uncertain origin. The Middle English word was later reinforced by Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French forque (= Old French forche whence French fourche), also from the Latin. Doublet of fourche and furcate. Cognate also with North Frisian forck (“fork”), Dutch vork (“fork”), Danish fork (“fork”), German Forke (“pitchfork”). Displaced native gafol, ġeafel, ġeafle (“fork”), from Old English. In its primary sense of “fork”, Latin furca appears to be derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰerk(ʷ)-, *ǵʰerg(ʷ)- (“fork”), although the development of the -c- is difficult to explain. In other senses this derivation is unlikely. For these, perhaps it is connected to Proto-Germanic *furkaz, *firkalaz (“stake, stick, pole, post”), from Proto-Indo-European *perg- (“pole, post”). If so, this would relate the word to Old English forclas pl (“bolt”), Old Saxon ferkal (“lock, bolt, bar”), Old Norse forkr (“pole, staff, stick”), Norwegian fork (“stick, bat”), Swedish fork (“pole”).

This word in other languages

horca(Español)fourche(Français)Gabel(Deutsch)forcado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffork
  • fokr
  • forkk
  • forrk
  • frok
  • ofrk

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ffork1fokr2forkk1forrk1frok2ofrk2
Edit distance from "fork"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fork"?
"fork" is spelled F-O-R-K. The IPA pronunciation is /fɔːk/.
What does "fork" mean?
As a noun, "fork" means: Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:
What words are commonly confused with "fork"?
"fork" is commonly confused with "fox", "fur", "fry". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fork"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fork" is /fɔːk/. 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 "fork"?
From Middle English forke (“digging fork”), from Old English force, forca (“forked instrument used to torture”), from Proto-West Germanic *furkō (“fork”), from Latin furca (“pitchfork, forked stake; gallows, beam, stake, support post, yoke”), of u... 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 "fork", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hype#6,795junk#6,800marc#6,807pill#6,821

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

eager6 variantsKenny6 variantsLloyd6 variantslobby6 variants
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