herb

/hɜːb/

//hɜːb// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"herb" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“herb” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,060. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,060
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.

Corpus desk

Index EN-herb · herb · English

herb · rank #10,060 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,060
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hearted

Nearest frequency peer: hearted (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “herb”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “herb” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

herb vs HR
0% similar
herb vs hey
50% similar
herb vs hub
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for herb
PropertyValue
Headwordherb
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɜːb/
Letters4
Frequency rank#10,060
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “herb”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).herblands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “hearted” (#10,059), “herd” (#10,061), “handing” (#10,058). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “herb” is #10,060. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around herb (IPA /hɜːb/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,060 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for herb, with forms such as "ehrb", "hebr", and "herbb". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "HR", "hey", "hub", 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 herbe, erbe, from Old French erbe (French herbe), from Latin herba. Initial h was restored to the spelling in the 15th century on the basis of Latin, but it remained mute until the 19th century and still is for many speakers. Doublet of … The correct English form is herb, spelled H-E-R-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.
  2. 2
    A plant whose roots, leaves or seeds, etc. are used in medicine.
  3. 3
    Cannabis.
  4. 4
    A plant whose stem is not woody and does not persist beyond each growing season
  5. 5
    Grass; herbage.
  6. 6
    (always with pronounced /h/) A lame or uncool person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how herb appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. If any medicinal herbs used by witches were supposedly evil, then how come people from at least the past benefited from the healing properties of such herbs?
  2. For twenty-five years he has done all sorts of odd jobs: digging ginseng (a herb) in the Long White Mountains, fishing in the Black River, and washing gold dust at Hailanpao. Without this education, he would never have become an undaunted revolutionary.

Etymology

From Middle English herbe, erbe, from Old French erbe (French herbe), from Latin herba. Initial h was restored to the spelling in the 15th century on the basis of Latin, but it remained mute until the 19th century and still is for many speakers. Doublet of yerba.

This word in other languages

planta medicinal(Español)herbe(Français)Küchenkraut(Deutsch)erva(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehrb
  • hebr
  • herbb
  • herrb
  • hherb
  • hreb

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of herb - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ehrb2hebr2herbb1herrb1hherb1hreb2
Edit distance from "herb"

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 "herb"?
"herb" is spelled H-E-R-B. The IPA pronunciation is /hɜːb/.
What does "herb" mean?
As a noun, "herb" means: Any green, leafy plant, or parts thereof, used to flavour or season food.
What words are commonly confused with "herb"?
"herb" is commonly confused with "HR", "hey", "hub". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "herb"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "herb" is /hɜːb/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "herb"?
From Middle English herbe, erbe, from Old French erbe (French herbe), from Latin herba. Initial h was restored to the spelling in the 15th century on the basis of Latin, but it remained mute until the 19th century and still is for many speakers. D... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "herb", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

herd#10,061guts#10,055lick#10,076mold#10,089

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

jelly6 variantsConnor6 variantspads6 variantsCody6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list