hump

/hʌmp/

//hʌmp// noun

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

"hump" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hump” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,103. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,103
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mound of earth.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hump · hump · English

hump · rank #18,103 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,103
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Horton

Nearest frequency peer: Horton (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “hump”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “hump” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

hump vs hut
50% similar
hump vs hun
50% similar
hump vs Hur
25% similar

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

Key facts for hump
PropertyValue
Headwordhump
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hʌmp/
Letters4
Frequency rank#18,103
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “hump”

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).humplands 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 “Horton” (#18,102), “idiotic” (#18,104), “IDS” (#18,105). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hump” is #18,103. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around hump (IPA /hʌmp/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #18,103 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for hump, with forms such as "hhump", "hmup", and "hummp". 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, "hut", "hun", "Hur", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”). Compare Proto-German… The correct English form is hump, spelled H-U-M-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    A mound of earth.
  2. 2
    A speed bump or speed hump.
  3. 3
    A deformity in humans caused by abnormal curvature of the upper spine.
  4. 4
    A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu.
  5. 5
    An act of sexual intercourse.
  6. 6
    A bad mood.
  7. 7
    A painfully boorish person.
  8. 8
    A wave that forms in front of an operating hovercraft and impedes progress at low speeds.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Fat, melted down from the hump of the camel, is suggested in an Oriental manual as an aphrodisiac aid.
  2. She's got the hump with me.

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”). Compare Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb-, *ḱewb- (unnasalised root), and English hub (a softened variant without nasal?). Cognate with West Frisian hompe (“lump, chunk”), Icelandic huppur (“flank”), Welsh cwm (“a hollow”), Latin incumbō (“to lie down”), Albanian sumbull (“round button, bud”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “bowl”), Avestan 𐬑𐬎𐬨𐬠𐬀 (xumba, “pot”), Sanskrit कुम्ब (kúmba, “thick end of bone”). Replaced, and perhaps influenced by, Old English crump (“crooked, bent”). More at cramp.

Synonyms

gibboushumpbackhunchhunchback

This word in other languages

joroba(Español)bosse(Français)Hügel(Deutsch)corcova(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhump
  • hmup
  • hummp
  • humpp
  • hupm
  • uhmp

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hump - 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.

hhump1hmup2hummp1humpp1hupm2uhmp2
Edit distance from "hump"

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 "hump"?
"hump" is spelled H-U-M-P. The IPA pronunciation is /hʌmp/.
What does "hump" mean?
As a noun, "hump" means: A mound of earth.
What words are commonly confused with "hump"?
"hump" is commonly confused with "hut", "hun", "Hur". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hump"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hump" is /hʌmp/. 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 "hump"?
Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”). Compare Pr... 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 "hump", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

itch#18,113fins#18,079mums#18,138Nero#18,142

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

hippie6 variantsCher6 variantsBoise6 variantsAdler6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list