height
/haɪt/
"height" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“height” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,836 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,836
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The distance from the base to the top of something.
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 | height |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /haɪt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #2,836 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “height” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for height is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /haɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,836 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for height, with forms such as "ehight", "hegiht", and "heigght". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "high", "heist", "heights", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kewk- Proto-Indo-European *kówk-o-s Proto-Germanic *hauhaz Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂der. Proto-Germanic *-iþō Proto-Germanic *hauhiþō Proto-West Germanic *hauhiþu Old English hīehþu Middle English heighte English height … The correct English form is height, spelled H-E-I-G-H-T.
Definition
- 1The distance from the base to the top of something.
- 2The distance from the base to the top of something.
- 3The distance from the base to the top of something.
- 4The distance from the base to the top of something.
- 5The distance of something above the ground or some other chosen level.
- 6A high point.
- 7A high point.
- 8A high point.
- 9A high point.
- 10A quality of vowels, indicating the vertical position of the tongue relative to the roof of the mouth; in practice, the first formant, associated with the height of the tongue.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kewk- Proto-Indo-European *kówk-o-s Proto-Germanic *hauhaz Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂der. Proto-Germanic *-iþō Proto-Germanic *hauhiþō Proto-West Germanic *hauhiþu Old English hīehþu Middle English heighte English height From Middle English heighte, heiȝþe, from Old English hēahþu, hēhþo, hīehþu (“height”), Proto-West Germanic *hauhiþu, from Proto-Germanic *hauhiþō (compare *hauhaz). Equivalent to high + -t (abstract nominal suffix). The regular pronunciation is now obsolete /heɪt/ (as with other words in -eight); the modern form developed early on, at first as a variant, by analogy with the underlying adjective. Cognates See also Saterland Frisian Höchte, Hööchte (“height”), West Frisian hichte (“height”), Dutch hoogte (“height”), Middle High German hœhede, hœhte (“height”), Old Norse hæð (“height”) (compare Swedish höjd, Norwegian høyde), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌹𐌸𐌰 (hauhiþa, “height”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ehight,hegiht,heigght,heighht,heightt,heigth,heihgt,hheight,hieght
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of height - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “height”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-E-I-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /haɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “high” - see the side-by-side comparison. height vs high
- 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.