gauge
/ˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/
"gauge" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gauge” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,912 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,912
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A measure; a standard of measure; an instrument to determine dimensions, distance, or capacity; a standard
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 | gauge |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #6,912 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gauge” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gauge is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,912 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 17 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 gauge, with forms such as "aguge", "gague", and "gaueg". 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, "gave", "glue", "gaze", 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 gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cros… The correct English form is gauge, spelled G-A-U-G-E.
Definition
- 1A measure; a standard of measure; an instrument to determine dimensions, distance, or capacity; a standard
- 2An act of measuring.
- 3An estimate.
- 4Any instrument for ascertaining or regulating the level, state, dimensions or forms of things
- 5A thickness of sheet metal or wire designated by any of several numbering schemes, with lower numbers indicating larger size.
- 6Ellipsis of track gauge.
- 7Ellipsis of loading gauge.
- 8A semi-norm; a function that assigns a non-negative size to all vectors in a vector space.
- 9The number of stitches per inch, centimetre, or other unit of distance.
- 10Relative positions of two or more vessels with reference to the wind.
- 11The depth to which a vessel sinks in the water.
- 12The quantity of plaster of Paris used with common plaster to make it set more quickly.
- 13That part of a shingle, slate, or tile, which is exposed to the weather, when laid; also, one course of such shingles, slates, or tiles.
- 14A unit of measurement which describes how many spheres of bore diameter of a shotgun can be had from one pound of lead; 12 gauge is roughly equivalent to .75 caliber.
- 15A shotgun (synecdoche for 12 gauge shotgun, the most common chambering for combat and hunting shotguns).
- 16A tunnel-like ear piercing consisting of a hollow ring embedded in the lobe.
- 17Cannabis.
Etymology
From Middle English gauge, gaugen, from Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French gauger (compare Modern French jauger from Old French jaugier), from gauge (“gauging rod”), from Frankish *galga (“measuring rod, pole”), from Proto-Germanic *galgô (“pole, stake, cross”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“perch, long switch”). Cognate with Old High German galgo, Old Frisian galga, Old English ġealga (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse galgi (“cross-beam, gallows”), Old Norse gelgja (“pole, perch”). Doublet of gallows.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aguge,gague,gaueg,gaugge,ggauge,guage
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gauge - 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 “gauge”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-A-U-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gave” - see the side-by-side comparison. gauge vs gave
- 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.