gang
/ˈɡæŋ/
"gang" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gang” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,999. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #2,999
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To go; walk; proceed.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gang · gang · English
gang · rank #2,999 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #2,999
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 18,276
- PHOTO-FINISH functions
Nearest frequency peer: functions (-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 “gang”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- ford
ford
97,005 corpus weight
- founded
founded
97,004 corpus weight
- functions
functions
97,003 corpus weight
- gang
gang
97,002 corpus weight
- graduate
graduate
97,001 corpus weight
- Greek
Greek
97,000 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “gang” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | gang |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈɡæŋ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #2,999 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gang” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around gang (IPA /ˈɡæŋ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #2,999 among 18,276 “G” headwords. Dominant gloss: "To go; walk; proceed.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for gang, with forms such as "agng", "gagn", and "gangg". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "gg", "gas", "gun", 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 gangen, from Old English gangan (“to go, walk, turn out”), from Proto-West Germanic *gangan, from Proto-Germanic *ganganą (“to go, walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to step, walk”). Cognate with Scots gang (“to go on foot, walk… The correct English form is gang, spelled G-A-N-G.
Definition
- 1To go; walk; proceed.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how gang appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
(Colin alone) Ah, Colin, thou’rt a prodigal; a thriftless loon thou’st been, that cou’d na’ keep a little pelf to thysall when thou had’st got it; now thou may’st gang in this poor geer to thy live's end, and worse too for aught I can tell; ’faith, mon, ’twas a smeart little bysack of money thou hadst scrap’d together, an the best part of it had na’ being…
"And am I to meet my Mary at Moffat? Come away, little, dear, welcome body, thou blessed of heaven, come away, and taste of an auld shepherd's best cheer, and I'll gang foot for foot with you to Moffat, and my auld wife shall gang foot for foot with us too. I tell you, little, blessed, and welcome crile, come along with me."
Etymology
From Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to go, walk, turn out”), from Proto-West Germanic *gangan, from Proto-Germanic *ganganą (“to go, walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to step, walk”). Cognate with Scots gang (“to go on foot, walk”), Swedish gånga (“to walk, go”), Faroese ganga (“to walk”), Icelandic ganga (“to walk, go”), Vedic Sanskrit जंहस् (jáṃhas). Ultimately related to Etymology 2, which see below.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- agng
- gagn
- gangg
- ganng
- ggang
- gnag
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gang - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gang", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
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.