hop

/hɒp/

//hɒp// noun

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

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

The verdict

“hop” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,629) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#3,629
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A short jump.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hop · hop · English

hop · rank #3,629 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,629
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hire

Nearest frequency peer: hire (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “hop”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “hop” 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).

hop vs HR
0% similar
hop vs HP
0% similar
hop vs HQ
0% similar

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

Key facts for hop
PropertyValue
Headwordhop
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɒp/
Letters3
Frequency rank#3,629
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “hop”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).hoplands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “hire” (#3,628), “hopes” (#3,630), “hadn't” (#3,627). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hop” is #3,629. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for hop is neighbouring look-alikes ("HR", "HP", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /hɒp/. Frequency #3,629 among 2,646 “H” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

hop doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "HR", "HP", "HQ", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hoppen, from Old English hoppian (“to hop, spring, leap, dance”), from Proto-West Germanic *huppōn, from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend, bow”). Cognate with Dutch hoppen (“to hop”), German h… The correct English form is hop, spelled H-O-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    A short jump.
  2. 2
    A jump on one leg.
  3. 3
    A short journey, especially in the case of air travel, one that takes place on a private plane.
  4. 4
    A brief period of development or progress.
  5. 5
    A bounce, especially from the ground, of a thrown or batted ball.
  6. 6
    A dance; a gathering for the purpose of dancing.
  7. 7
    The sending of a data packet from one host to an adjacent host as part of its overall journey.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The frog crossed the brook in three or four hops.
  2. My fellow passengers are a mixture of people returning from a day out in the capital, locals doing short hops, and a few (like me) heading farther afield.

Etymology

From Middle English hoppen, from Old English hoppian (“to hop, spring, leap, dance”), from Proto-West Germanic *huppōn, from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend, bow”). Cognate with Dutch hoppen (“to hop”), German hopfen, hoppen (“to hop”), Danish hoppe (“to hop, leap, jump”), Swedish hoppa (“to hop, leap, jump”), Icelandic hoppa (“to hop, skip”).

This word in other languages

salto(Español)salto(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 "hop"?
"hop" is spelled H-O-P. The IPA pronunciation is /hɒp/.
What does "hop" mean?
As a noun, "hop" means: A short jump.
What words are commonly confused with "hop"?
"hop" 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 "hop"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hop" is /hɒp/. 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 "hop"?
From Middle English hoppen, from Old English hoppian (“to hop, spring, leap, dance”), from Proto-West Germanic *huppōn, from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend, bow”). Cognate with Dutch hoppen (“to hop”)... 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 "hop", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

nah#3,638pot#3,647bro#3,602BID#3,601

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list