hero
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
4 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "hero", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "hero" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "hero" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
hero is aEnglishnoun. It means: Somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds. Pronounced /ˈhɪə.ɹəʊ/. It ranks #2,114 in English word frequency. Often confused with ho and HR.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hero |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhɪə.ɹəʊ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #2,114 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hero is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhɪə.ɹəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,114 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for hero, with forms such as "ehro", "heor", and "herro". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ho", "HR", "hey", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English heroes, from Old French heroes, from Latin hērōs (“hero”), from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “demi-god, hero”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to watch over, protect”); if so, related to Latin servo (“protect”). Displaced Middle… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is hero, spelled H-E-R-O, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Somebody who possesses great bravery and carries out extraordinary or noble deeds.
- 2A role model.
- 3The protagonist in a work of fiction.
- 4The current player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: villain (“any opponent player”). Not to be confused with hero call (“a weak call against a supposed bluff”).
- 5A large sandwich made from meats and cheeses.
- 6The product chosen from several candidates to be photographed, as in food advertising, or with props used in a movie.
- 7The eye-catching top portion of a web page, sometimes including a hero image; the portion above the fold.
- 8The standout component of a dish; the part of a dish that should take center stage on the palate.
Etymology
From Middle English heroes, from Old French heroes, from Latin hērōs (“hero”), from Ancient Greek ἥρως (hḗrōs, “demi-god, hero”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to watch over, protect”); if so, related to Latin servo (“protect”). Displaced Middle English heleð, haleð, from Old English hæleþ, hæle.
Synonyms
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ehro,heor,herro,hhero,hreo
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for hero
Misspelling Variants of "hero"
Frequency rank: #2,114 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter H in our English index: