grow
/ɡɹəʊ/
"grow" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“grow” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,344. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,344
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - To become larger, to increase in magnitude.
Corpus desk
Index EN-grow · grow · English
grow · rank #1,344 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,344
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH greater
Nearest frequency peer: greater (-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 “grow”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Germany
Germany
98,660 corpus weight
- glad
glad
98,659 corpus weight
- greater
greater
98,658 corpus weight
- grow
grow
98,657 corpus weight
- largest
largest
98,656 corpus weight
- machine
machine
98,655 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “grow” 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 | grow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɡɹəʊ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #1,344 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grow” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around grow (IPA /ɡɹəʊ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,344 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 grow, with forms such as "ggrow", "gorw", and "groww". 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, "Guo", "GRU", "grr", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English growen, from Old English grōwan (“to grow, increase, flourish, germinate”), from Proto-West Germanic *grōan, from Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow, grow green”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow, become green”). Cognates Cogna… The correct English form is grow, spelled G-R-O-W.
Definition
- 1To become larger, to increase in magnitude.
- 2To undergo growth; to be present (somewhere)
- 3To appear or sprout.
- 4To develop, to mature.
- 5To cause or allow something to become bigger, especially to cultivate plants.
- 6To assume a condition or quality over time.
- 7To become attached or fixed; to adhere.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how grow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Children grow quickly.
[...] but the dangers to trespassers, especially children, are growing, and a vigorous educational programme is urged.
Etymology
From Middle English growen, from Old English grōwan (“to grow, increase, flourish, germinate”), from Proto-West Germanic *grōan, from Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow, grow green”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow, become green”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch groeien (“to grow”), German Low German grojen (“to green; thrive; take hold; flourish”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish gro (“to grow”), Faroese grógva (“to grow”), Icelandic gróa (“to grow”); also Latin grāmen (“grass, turf; herb, plant”), herba (“grass, herbage; weeds; plant”), Ukrainian гря́ний (hrjányj, “green”). Related to growth, grass, green.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ggrow
- gorw
- groww
- grrow
- grwo
- rgow
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grow - 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.
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 September 2, 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 "grow", 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.