hove
/həʊv/
"hove" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hove” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #27,871. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #27,871
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - To remain suspended in air, water etc.; to float, to hover.
Corpus desk
Index EN-hove · hove · English
hove · rank #27,871 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #27,871
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH Heywood
Nearest frequency peer: Heywood (-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 neighbourhood for “hove”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Hampden
Hampden
72,135 corpus weight
- Hebron
Hebron
72,133 corpus weight
- Heywood
Heywood
72,132 corpus weight
- hove
hove
72,130 corpus weight
- HVAC
HVAC
72,128 corpus weight
- hydrate
hydrate
72,126 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “hove” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hove |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /həʊv/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #27,871 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hove” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around hove (IPA /həʊv/), averb. Corpus frequency is #27,871 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for hove, with forms such as "hhove", "hoev", and "hovve". 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, "hv", "how", "hue", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hoven (“to linger, wait, hover, move aside, entertain, cherish, foster”), from Old English *hofian (“to receive into one's house”), from Proto-Germanic *hufōną (“to house, lodge”), from Proto-Germanic *hufą (“hill, height, farm, dwelling… The correct English form is hove, spelled H-O-V-E.
Definition
- 1To remain suspended in air, water etc.; to float, to hover.
- 2To wait, linger.
- 3To move on or by.
- 4To remain; delay.
- 5To remain stationary (usually on horseback).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how hove appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
As shee arrived on the roring shore, / In minde to leape into the mighty maine, / A little bote lay hoving her before[…].
Alle these xv knyghtes were knyghtes of the table round / Soo these with moo other came in to gyders / and bete on bak the kynge of Northumberland and the kynge of Northwalys / whan sir launcelot sawe this as he houed in a lytil leued woode / thenne he sayd vnto syre lauayn / see yonder is a company of good knyghtes
Etymology
From Middle English hoven (“to linger, wait, hover, move aside, entertain, cherish, foster”), from Old English *hofian (“to receive into one's house”), from Proto-Germanic *hufōną (“to house, lodge”), from Proto-Germanic *hufą (“hill, height, farm, dwelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *keup- (“to arch, bend, buckle”). Cognate with Old Frisian hovia (“to receive into one's home, entertain”), Old Dutch hoven (“to receive into one's home, entertain”). Related to Old English hof (“court, house, dwelling”). More at hovel.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- hhove
- hoev
- hovve
- hvoe
- ohve
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hove - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "hove"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hove", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
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.