# groove

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡɹuːv/ · frequency rank #10,552

## Definitions
1. A long, narrow channel or depression; e.g., such a slot cut into a hard material to provide a location for an engineering component, a tire groove, or a geological channel or depression.
2. A fixed routine.
3. The middle of the strike zone in baseball where a pitch is most easily hit.
4. A pronounced, enjoyable rhythm.
5. A good feeling (often as in the groove).
6. A shaft or excavation.
7. The optimal route around the track, or any of several such routes.

## Etymology
From Middle English grov, grove, groof, grofe (“cave; pit; mining shaft”), probably from Old Norse gróf (“pit”) or from Middle Dutch groeve (“furrow, ditch”), both from Proto-West Germanic *grōbu, from Proto-Germanic *grōbō (“groove, furrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scrape, bury”).
Cognate with Cimbrian gruuba (“gorge, ravine”), Dutch groef, groeve (“groove; pit, grave”), German Grube (“ditch, pit”), Luxembourgish Grouf (“pit, mine”), Mòcheno gruab (“mine”), Icelandic gróf (“pit, hollow”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐍉𐌱𐌰 (grōba, “foxhole”), Serbo-Croatian grèbati (“scratch, dig”). Related to Old English grafan (“to dig”). More at grave.

## Easily confused with
- **grove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-grove)
- **grope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-grope)
- **groves** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-groves)
- **Grover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-grover)
- **grouse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-grouse)
- **groovy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-groovy)
- **grosse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-grosse)
- **grooved** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groove-vs-grooved)
- **gove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gove-vs-groove)
- **grave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grave-vs-groove)
- **goose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goose-vs-groove)
- **glove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/glove-vs-groove)
- **groom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groom-vs-groove)
- **Groot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groot-vs-groove)
- **goode** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goode-vs-groove)
- **grieve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grieve-vs-groove)
- **grooms** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grooms-vs-groove)
- **groomed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groomed-vs-groove)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ggroove`, `gorove`, `grooev`, `groovve`, `grovoe`, `grroove`, `rgoove`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/groove