fosse
/fɒs/
"fosse" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fosse” is uncommon English (frequency #57,393 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,393
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A ditch or moat.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fosse · fosse · English
fosse · rank #57,393 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,393
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH formica
Nearest frequency peer: formica (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “fosse”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- forecaster
forecaster
42,611 corpus weight
- forfeiting
forfeiting
42,610 corpus weight
- formica
formica
42,609 corpus weight
- fosse
fosse
42,608 corpus weight
- freemason
freemason
42,607 corpus weight
- Fron
Fron
42,606 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “fosse” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fosse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /fɒs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #57,393 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “fosse” in English
Rare enough to double-check
fosse is uncommon English at frequency #57,393 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /fɒs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for fosse, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fosse, from Old French fosse, from Latin fossa (“ditch, trench”). The correct English form is fosse, spelled F-O-S-S-E.
Definition
- 1A ditch or moat.
- 2Alternative form of fossa.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how fosse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[T]he ground was […] scattered with the masses of ruined buildings, that had formerly been part of the outward fortifications, but of which some were fallen into the fosse, and others overgrown with alder, ash, and arbeal.
Etymology
From Middle English fosse, from Old French fosse, from Latin fossa (“ditch, trench”).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fosse", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).