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” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,788 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#6,788
frequency rank, English
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:

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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for fork is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fɔːk/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,788 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 24 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 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.

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.

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.

Using “fork”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is F-O-R-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /fɔːk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “fox” - see the side-by-side comparison. fork vs fox
  • 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