gold

/ɡəʊld/

//ɡəʊld// noun

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

"gold" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gold” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #692. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#692
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A heavy yellow elemental metal of great value, with atomic number 79 and symbol Au.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gold · gold · English

gold · rank #692 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #692
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH girls

Nearest frequency peer: girls (-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 “gold”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “gold” 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).

gold vs got
50% similar
gold vs GOP
0% similar
gold vs goo
50% similar

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

Key facts for gold
PropertyValue
Headwordgold
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡəʊld/
Letters4
Frequency rank#692
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “gold”

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).goldlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “girls” (#691), “gone” (#693), “finally” (#690). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gold” is #692. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around gold (IPA /ɡəʊld/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #692 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for gold, with forms such as "ggold", "glod", and "godl". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "got", "GOP", "goo", 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 gold, from Old English gold (“gold”), from Proto-West Germanic *golþ, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰl̥h₃tóm (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green, yellow”). Related to yellow; see there fo… The correct English form is gold, spelled G-O-L-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A heavy yellow elemental metal of great value, with atomic number 79 and symbol Au.
  2. 2
    A coin or coinage made of this material, or supposedly so.
  3. 3
    A deep yellow colour, resembling the metal gold.
  4. 4
    The bullseye of an archery target.
  5. 5
    A gold medal.
  6. 6
    Anything or anyone that is very valuable.
  7. 7
    A grill (jewellery worn on front teeth) made of gold.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. You like to hear about gold. A king filled his prison room As full as the room could hold To the top of his reach on the wall With every known shape of the stuff. ’Twas to buy himself off his doom.
  2. The pirates were searching for gold.

Etymology

From Middle English gold, from Old English gold (“gold”), from Proto-West Germanic *golþ, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰl̥h₃tóm (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green, yellow”). Related to yellow; see there for more. Germanic cognates include Dutch goud, German Gold, Norwegian gull, Swedish guld, and cognates from other Indo-European languages include Latvian zelts, Russian зо́лото (zóloto), Persian زرد (zard, “yellow, golden”), Sanskrit हिरण्य (hiraṇya).

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggold
  • glod
  • godl
  • goldd
  • golld
  • ogld

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ggold1glod2godl2goldd1golld1ogld2
Edit distance from "gold"

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 "gold"?
"gold" is spelled G-O-L-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡəʊld/.
What does "gold" mean?
As a noun, "gold" means: A heavy yellow elemental metal of great value, with atomic number 79 and symbol Au.
What words are commonly confused with "gold"?
"gold" is commonly confused with "got", "GOP", "goo". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "gold"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gold" is /ɡəʊld/. 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 "gold"?
From Middle English gold, from Old English gold (“gold”), from Proto-West Germanic *golþ, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰl̥h₃tóm (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green, yellow”). Related to yellow; se... 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 "gold", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

gone#693July#696king#697wish#685

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

sorry6 variantsalone6 variantsbank6 variantsmovie6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list