hemp
/hɛmp/
"hemp" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hemp” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,726 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,726
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tall annual herb, Cannabis sativa, native to Asia.
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 | hemp |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /hɛmp/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #16,726 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hemp” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hemp is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɛmp/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,726 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for hemp, with forms such as "ehmp", "hemmp", and "hempp". 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, "HP", "hm", "her", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hemp, from Old English henep, from Proto-West Germanic *hanapi, from Proto-Germanic *hanapiz. Doublet of cannabis and canvas. The correct English form is hemp, spelled H-E-M-P.
Definition
- 1A tall annual herb, Cannabis sativa, native to Asia.
- 2Various products of this plant, including fibres and the drug cannabis.
- 3The gallows.
Etymology
From Middle English hemp, from Old English henep, from Proto-West Germanic *hanapi, from Proto-Germanic *hanapiz. Doublet of cannabis and canvas.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ehmp,hemmp,hempp,hepm,hhemp,hmep
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hemp - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "hemp"?
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Using “hemp”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-E-M-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /hɛmp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “HP” - see the side-by-side comparison. hemp vs HP
- 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.