husband

/ˈhʌz.bənd/

//ˈhʌz.bənd// noun

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

"husband" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“husband” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,080. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,080
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A man in a marriage or marital relationship, especially in relation to his spouse.

Corpus desk

Index EN-husband · husband · English

husband · rank #1,080 · 11 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,080
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hi

Nearest frequency peer: hi (-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 “husband”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “husband” 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).

husband vs husbands
88% similar
husband vs husbandry
78% similar
husband vs Hubbard
57% similar

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

Key facts for husband
PropertyValue
Headwordhusband
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhʌz.bənd/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,080
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “husband”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).husbandlands 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 “hi” (#1,079), “ice” (#1,081), “g” (#1,078). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “husband” is #1,080. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around husband (IPA /ˈhʌz.bənd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,080 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for husband, with forms such as "hhusband", "hsuband", and "hubsand". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "husbands", "husbandry", "Hubbard", 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 husbonde, from Old English hūsbonda (“head of household”), from Old Norse húsbóndi, from hús + bóndi, corresponding to Proto-Germanic *hūsą (“house”) and *būandz (“dwelling, residing”, present participle). Compare English house and bond³. The correct English form is husband, spelled H-U-S-B-A-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A man in a marriage or marital relationship, especially in relation to his spouse.
  2. 2
    A manager of property; one who has the care of another's belongings, owndom, or interests; a steward; an economist.
  3. 3
    A prudent or frugal manager.
  4. 4
    The master of a house; the head of a family; a householder.
  5. 5
    A tiller of the ground; a husbandman.
  6. 6
    The male of a pair of animals.
  7. 7
    A large cushion with arms meant to support a person in the sitting position.
  8. 8
    A polled tree; a pollard.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. You should start dating so you can find a suitable husband.
  2. The husband and wife are one person in law.

Etymology

From Middle English husbonde, from Old English hūsbonda (“head of household”), from Old Norse húsbóndi, from hús + bóndi, corresponding to Proto-Germanic *hūsą (“house”) and *būandz (“dwelling, residing”, present participle). Compare English house and bond³.

Synonyms

baronhis lordshiphubbyhusbandlord and masterold man

Antonyms

wife

This word in other languages

marido(Español)mari(Français)Ehemann(Deutsch)marido(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhusband
  • hsuband
  • hubsand
  • husabnd
  • husbadn
  • husbandd
  • husbannd
  • husbband
  • husbnad
  • hussband
  • uhsband

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of husband - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hhusband1hsuband2hubsand2husabnd2husbadn2husbandd1husbannd1husbband1
Edit distance from "husband"

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 "husband"?
"husband" is spelled H-U-S-B-A-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhʌz.bənd/.
What does "husband" mean?
As a noun, "husband" means: A man in a marriage or marital relationship, especially in relation to his spouse.
What words are commonly confused with "husband"?
"husband" is commonly confused with "husbands", "husbandry", "Hubbard". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "husband"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "husband" is /ˈhʌz.bənd/. 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 "husband"?
From Middle English husbonde, from Old English hūsbonda (“head of household”), from Old Norse húsbóndi, from hús + bóndi, corresponding to Proto-Germanic *hūsą (“house”) and *būandz (“dwelling, residing”, present participle). Compare English house... 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 "husband", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

despite#1,075leading#1,087content#1,071message#1,089

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

previous11 variantsquickly11 variantswestern11 variantssection11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list