hog

/hɒɡ/

//hɒɡ// noun

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

"hog" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hog” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,532) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#13,532
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any animal belonging to the Suidae family of mammals, especially the pig, the warthog, and the boar.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hog · hog · English

hog · rank #13,532 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,532
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Hicks

Nearest frequency peer: Hicks (-2 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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “hog”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “hog” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

hog vs HR
0% similar
hog vs HP
0% similar
hog vs HQ
0% similar

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

Key facts for hog
PropertyValue
Headwordhog
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɒɡ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#13,532
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “hog”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).hoglands 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 “Hicks” (#13,530), “Ibrahim” (#13,534), “hector” (#13,529). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hog” is #13,532. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for hog is neighbouring look-alikes ("HR", "HP", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /hɒɡ/. Frequency #13,532 among 2,646 “H” headwords. 12 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

hog doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "HR", "HP", "HQ", 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 hog, from Old English hogg, hocg (“hog”), possibly from Old Norse hǫggva (“to strike, chop, cut”), from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną (“to hew, forge”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to beat, hew, forge”). Cognate with Old High German hou… The correct English form is hog, spelled H-O-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any animal belonging to the Suidae family of mammals, especially the pig, the warthog, and the boar.
  2. 2
    An adult swine (contrasted with a pig, a young swine).
  3. 3
    A greedy person or thing; one who refuses to share; a gluttonous one.
  4. 4
    A large motorcycle, particularly a Harley-Davidson.
  5. 5
    A young sheep that has not been shorn.
  6. 6
    A rough, flat scrubbing broom for scrubbing a ship's bottom under water.
  7. 7
    A device for mixing and stirring the pulp from which paper is made.
  8. 8
    A shilling coin; its value, 12 old pence.
  9. 9
    A tanner, a sixpence coin; its value.
  10. 10
    A half-crown coin; its value, 30 old pence.
  11. 11
    The effect of the middle of the hull of a ship rising while the ends droop.
  12. 12
    A penis.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Weanlings grow into feeder pigs, and feeder pigs grow into slaughter hogs. […] Ultimately the end use for virtually all pigs and hogs is to be slaughtered for the production of pork and other products.
  2. resource hog

Etymology

From Middle English hog, from Old English hogg, hocg (“hog”), possibly from Old Norse hǫggva (“to strike, chop, cut”), from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną (“to hew, forge”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to beat, hew, forge”). Cognate with Old High German houwan, Old Saxon hauwan, Old English hēawan (English hew). Hog originally meant a castrated male pig, hence a sense of “the cut one”. (Compare hogget for a castrated male sheep.) More at hew. Alternatively from a Brythonic language, from Proto-Celtic *sukkos, from Proto-Indo-European *suH- and thus cognate with Welsh hwch (“sow”) and Cornish hogh (“pig”).

This word in other languages

puerco(Español)cochon(Français)Schwein(Deutsch)suíno(Português)

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 "hog"?
"hog" is spelled H-O-G. The IPA pronunciation is /hɒɡ/.
What does "hog" mean?
As a noun, "hog" means: Any animal belonging to the Suidae family of mammals, especially the pig, the warthog, and the boar.
What words are commonly confused with "hog"?
"hog" is commonly confused with "HR", "HP", "HQ". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hog"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hog" is /hɒɡ/. 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 "hog"?
From Middle English hog, from Old English hogg, hocg (“hog”), possibly from Old Norse hǫggva (“to strike, chop, cut”), from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną (“to hew, forge”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to beat, hew, forge”). Cognate with Old High ... 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 "hog", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Ind#13,538hai#13,524EPS#13,511lea#13,556

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list