horse

/hɔːs/

//hɔːs// noun

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

"horse" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“horse” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,793 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,793
frequency rank, English
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

horse vs hos
60% similar
horse vs hse
60% similar
horse vs host
60% similar

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

Key facts for horse
PropertyValue
Headwordhorse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɔːs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,793
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “horse” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). horse lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for horse is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɔːs/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,793 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 21 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for horse, with forms such as "hhorse", "hores", and "horrse". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hos", "hse", "host", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hors, horse, ors, from Old English hors (“horse”), from Proto-West Germanic *hors, *hross, from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of car an… The correct English form is horse, spelled H-O-R-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
  2. 2
    A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
  3. 3
    A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
  4. 4
    A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
  5. 5
    A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
  6. 6
    A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
  7. 7
    A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
  8. 8
    A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
  9. 9
    Equipment with legs.
  10. 10
    Equipment with legs.
  11. 11
    A type of equipment.
  12. 12
    A type of equipment.
  13. 13
    A type of equipment.
  14. 14
    A type of equipment.
  15. 15
    A mass of earthy matter, or rock of the same character as the wall rock, occurring in the course of a vein, as of coal or ore; hence, to take horse (said of a vein) is to divide into branches for a distance.
  16. 16
    An informal variant of basketball in which players match shots made by their opponent(s), each miss adding a letter to the word "horse", with 5 misses spelling the whole word and eliminating a player, until only the winner is left. Also HORSE, H-O-R-S-E or H.O.R.S.E. (see H-O-R-S-E on WikipediaWikipedia).
  17. 17
    The flesh of a horse as an item of cuisine.
  18. 18
    A prison guard who smuggles contraband in or out for prisoners.
  19. 19
    A translation or other illegitimate aid in study or examination.
  20. 20
    Horseplay; tomfoolery.
  21. 21
    A player who has been staked, i.e. another player has paid for their buy-in and claims a percentage of any winnings.

Etymology

From Middle English hors, horse, ors, from Old English hors (“horse”), from Proto-West Germanic *hors, *hross, from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of car and carrus. Cognates Cognate with Scots horse (“horse”), West Frisian hoars (“horse”), Cimbrian ross (“horse”), Dutch hors, ros (“horse”), German Ross, Roß (“horse”), Danish and Norwegian Nynorsk hors (“horse, mare”), Faroese hors, ross (“horse”), Icelandic hross (“horse”), Swedish russ (“horse”); also Cornish karr (“car”), Welsh car (“car; cart, wagon”), Latin currus (“car, chariot; wagon, wain”), Ancient Greek ἐπίκουρος (epíkouros, “aiding, assisting; defending; ally, helper; hireling”), Tocharian A kursär (“vehicle; mile”), Tocharian B kwarsär (“course; path”).

Synonyms

caplewidgechevalhorsynagpradsteedpommel horsevaulting horseknighthorsefleshhorsemeatdobbinponytrotequinehorsekeffel

This word in other languages

caballo(Español)cheval(Français)Pferd(Deutsch)cavalo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hhorse,hores,horrse,horsse,hosre,hrose,ohrse

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of horse - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

hhorse1hores2horrse1horsse1hosre2hrose2ohrse2
Edit distance from "horse"

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 "horse"?
"horse" is spelled H-O-R-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /hɔːs/.
What does "horse" mean?
As a noun, "horse" means: A hoofed mammal, Equus ferus caballus, often used throughout history for riding and draft work.
What words are commonly confused with "horse"?
"horse" is commonly confused with "hos", "hse", "host". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "horse"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "horse" is /hɔːs/. 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 "horse"?
From Middle English hors, horse, ors, from Old English hors (“horse”), from Proto-West Germanic *hors, *hross, from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós (“vehicle”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet... 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.

Using “horse”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is H-O-R-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /hɔːs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “hos” - see the side-by-side comparison. horse vs hos
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list