# hive

> English word · Noun · IPA /haɪv/ · frequency rank #14,961

## Definitions
1. A structure, whether artificial or natural, for housing a swarm of honeybees.
2. The bees of one hive; a swarm of bees.
3. A place swarming with busy occupants; a crowd.
4. A section of the registry.

## Etymology
From Middle English hyve, from Old English hȳf, from Proto-West Germanic *hūfi, from Proto-Indo-European *kuHp- (“water vessel”), from *kew- (“to bend, curve”).
See also Dutch huif (“beehive”), Danish dialect huv (“ship’s hull”); also Latin cūpa (“tub, vat”), Ancient Greek κύπη (kúpē, “gap, hole”), κύπελλον (kúpellon, “beaker”), Sanskrit कूप (kū́pa, “cave”). Doublet of coupe, cup, and keeve. The computing term was chosen as an in-joke relating to bees; see https://web.archive.org/web/20150715222122/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2003/08/08/54618.aspx.

## Easily confused with
- **hv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hv)
- **hue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hue)
- **hoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hoe)
- **hye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hye)
- **HPV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hpv)
- **hse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hse)
- **HOV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hov)
- **home** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-home)
- **hope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hope)
- **huge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-huge)
- **hole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hole)
- **hype** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hype)
- **hose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hose)
- **Hyde** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hyde)
- **Howe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-howe)
- **Hume** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hume)
- **hone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hone)
- **hiya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hiya)
- **hove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hove)
- **hoke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hive-vs-hoke)

## Common misspellings (5)
`hhive`, `hiev`, `hivve`, `hvie`, `ihve`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hive