hearse
/hɜːs/
"hearse" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hearse” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #37,023 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #37,023
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin...
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 | hearse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /hɜːs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #37,023 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hearse” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hearse is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɜːs/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,023 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for hearse, with forms such as "eharse", "haerse", and "heares". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "here", "hers", "heart", 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 herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce, from Medieval Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, hirpex; ultimately from Oscan 𐌇𐌉𐌓𐌐𐌖𐌔 (hirpus, “wolf”), a reference to the teeth, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“stiff, rigid… The correct English form is hearse, spelled H-E-A-R-S-E.
Definition
- 1A framework of wood or metal placed over the coffin or tomb of a deceased person, and covered with a pall; also, a temporary canopy bearing wax lights and set up in a church, under which the coffin was placed during the funeral ceremonies.
- 2A grave, coffin, tomb, or sepulchral monument.
- 3A bier or handbarrow for conveying the dead to the grave.
- 4A carriage or vehicle specially adapted or used for transporting a dead person to the place of funeral or to the grave.
Etymology
From Middle English herse, hers, herce, from Old French herce, from Medieval Latin hercia, from Latin herpicem, hirpex; ultimately from Oscan 𐌇𐌉𐌓𐌐𐌖𐌔 (hirpus, “wolf”), a reference to the teeth, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰers- (“stiff, rigid, bristled”). The Oscan term is related to Latin hīrsūtus (“bristly, shaggy”), whence English hirsute. Doublet of herse (“kind of gate”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eharse,haerse,heares,hearrse,hearsse,heasre,herase,hhearse
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hearse - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “hearse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-E-A-R-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /hɜːs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “here” - see the side-by-side comparison. hearse vs here
- 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.