glove

/ɡlʌv/

//ɡlʌv// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"glove" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“glove” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,703. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,703
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An item of clothing, covering all or part of the hand and fingers, but usually allowing independent movement of the fingers.

Corpus desk

Index EN-glove · glove · English

glove · rank #10,703 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,703
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH gloria

Nearest frequency peer: gloria (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “glove”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “glove” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

glove vs gone
60% similar
glove vs glow
60% similar
glove vs glue
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for glove
PropertyValue
Headwordglove
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡlʌv/
Letters5
Frequency rank#10,703
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “glove”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).glovelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “gloria” (#10,702), “grabs” (#10,704), “genus” (#10,701). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “glove” is #10,703. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around glove (IPA /ɡlʌv/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,703 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for glove, with forms such as "gglove", "gllove", and "gloev". 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, "gone", "glow", "glue", 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 glove, glofe, from Old English glōf, *glōfe, *glōfa, ("glove"; weak forms attested only in plural form glōfan (“gloves”)), from Proto-Germanic *galōfô (“glove”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- (“collective and associative prefix”) + Proto-Germ… The correct English form is glove, spelled G-L-O-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An item of clothing, covering all or part of the hand and fingers, but usually allowing independent movement of the fingers.
  2. 2
    A baseball mitt.
  3. 3
    The ability to catch a hit ball.
  4. 4
    A condom.
  5. 5
    A challenge from one to another.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how glove appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I wore gloves to keep my hands warm.
  2. The boxing champ laced on his gloves before the big bout.

Etymology

From Middle English glove, glofe, from Old English glōf, *glōfe, *glōfa, ("glove"; weak forms attested only in plural form glōfan (“gloves”)), from Proto-Germanic *galōfô (“glove”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- (“collective and associative prefix”) + Proto-Germanic *lōfô (“flat of the hand, palm”), from Proto-Indo-European *lāp-, *lēp-, *lep- (“flat”). Cognate with Scots gluve, gluive (“glove”), Icelandic glófi (“glove”). Related to Middle English lofe, lufe (“palm of the hand”). More at loof.

Synonyms

gauntlethandglovehandshoe

This word in other languages

guante(Español)gant(Français)Handschuh(Deutsch)luva(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • gglove
  • gllove
  • gloev
  • glovve
  • glvoe
  • golve
  • lgove

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of glove - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

gglove1gllove1gloev2glovve1glvoe2golve2lgove2
Edit distance from "glove"

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 "glove"?
"glove" is spelled G-L-O-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡlʌv/.
What does "glove" mean?
As a noun, "glove" means: An item of clothing, covering all or part of the hand and fingers, but usually allowing independent movement of the fingers.
What words are commonly confused with "glove"?
"glove" is commonly confused with "gone", "glow", "glue". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "glove"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "glove" is /ɡlʌv/. 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 "glove"?
From Middle English glove, glofe, from Old English glōf, *glōfe, *glōfa, ("glove"; weak forms attested only in plural form glōfan (“gloves”)), from Proto-Germanic *galōfô (“glove”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- (“collective and associative prefix”) + ... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "glove", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

grabs#10,704genus#10,701gases#10,700greed#10,707

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

greet7 variantsexcel7 variantsDixon7 variantsnegro7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list