herring

/ˈhɛɹɪŋ/

//ˈhɛɹɪŋ// noun

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

"herring" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“herring” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,423. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,423
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A type of small, oily fish of the genus Clupea, often used as food.

Corpus desk

Index EN-herring · herring · English

herring · rank #15,423 · 9 variants · 19 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,423
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH harmed

Nearest frequency peer: harmed (-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 “herring”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “herring” 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).

herring vs hiring
71% similar
herring vs hurting
71% similar
herring vs hurling
71% similar

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

Key facts for herring
PropertyValue
Headwordherring
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɛɹɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#15,423
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs19
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “herring”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).herringlands 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 “harmed” (#15,422), “Haley” (#15,421), “hopper” (#15,425). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “herring” is #15,423. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around herring (IPA /ˈhɛɹɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,423 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for herring, with forms such as "ehrring", "hering", and "herirng". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "hiring", "hurting", "hurling", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hering, from Old English hǣring, from Proto-West Germanic *hāring (“herring”), further etymology unknown. Possibly derived from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”) + -ing, due to the similarity of their fine bones to hair. Cognate with Scots h… The correct English form is herring, spelled H-E-R-R-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    A type of small, oily fish of the genus Clupea, often used as food.
  2. 2
    Fish in the family Clupeidae.
  3. 3
    Those fish and any other fish similar to those in genus Clupea, many of those in the order Clupeiformes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.

Etymology

From Middle English hering, from Old English hǣring, from Proto-West Germanic *hāring (“herring”), further etymology unknown. Possibly derived from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”) + -ing, due to the similarity of their fine bones to hair. Cognate with Scots hering, haring (“herring”), Saterland Frisian Hiering, Häiring (“herring”), West Frisian hjerring (“herring”), Dutch haring (“herring”), German Low German Hereng, Hering (“herring”), German Hering (“herring”), Bavarian Haring (“herring”). Late Latin haringus (whence French hareng, etc.) is borrowed from Germanic.

This word in other languages

arenque(Español)hareng(Français)Hering(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ehrring
  • hering
  • herirng
  • herrign
  • herringg
  • herrinng
  • herrnig
  • hherring
  • hrering

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of herring - 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.

ehrring2hering1herirng2herrign2herringg1herrinng1herrnig2hherring1
Edit distance from "herring"

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 "herring"?
"herring" is spelled H-E-R-R-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɛɹɪŋ/.
What does "herring" mean?
As a noun, "herring" means: A type of small, oily fish of the genus Clupea, often used as food.
What words are commonly confused with "herring"?
"herring" is commonly confused with "hiring", "hurting", "hurling". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "herring"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "herring" is /ˈhɛɹɪŋ/. 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 "herring"?
From Middle English hering, from Old English hǣring, from Proto-West Germanic *hāring (“herring”), further etymology unknown. Possibly derived from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”) + -ing, due to the similarity of their fine bones to hair. Cognate wi... 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 "herring", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hugging#15,426implant#15,428fullest#15,413frontal#15,412

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

harmed9 variantskidnap9 variantsEstonia9 variantsMcLean9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list