forth
/fɔːθ/
"forth" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“forth” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,625 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #3,625
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Forward in time, place or degree.
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 | forth |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /fɔːθ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #3,625 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “forth” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for forth is 5 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fɔːθ/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,625 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for forth, with forms such as "fforth", "forht", and "forrth". 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, "forum", "forty", "froth", 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 forth, from Old English forþ, from Proto-West Germanic *forþ, from Proto-Germanic *furþą, from Proto-Indo-European *pŕ̥-to-, from *per-. Cognates include Dutch voort and German fort. See also ford. The correct English form is forth, spelled F-O-R-T-H.
Definition
- 1Forward in time, place or degree.
- 2Out into view; from a particular place or position.
- 3Beyond a (certain) boundary; away; abroad; out.
Etymology
From Middle English forth, from Old English forþ, from Proto-West Germanic *forþ, from Proto-Germanic *furþą, from Proto-Indo-European *pŕ̥-to-, from *per-. Cognates include Dutch voort and German fort. See also ford.
Synonyms
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: fforth,forht,forrth,forthh,fortth,fotrh,ofrth
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of forth - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “forth”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-O-R-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /fɔːθ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “forum” - see the side-by-side comparison. forth vs forum
- 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.