# husk

> English word · Noun · IPA /hʌsk/ · frequency rank #35,345

## Definitions
1. The dry, leafy or stringy exterior of certain vegetables or fruits, which must be removed before eating the meat inside.
2. Any form of useless, dried up, and subsequently worthless exterior of something.
3. The supporting frame of a run of millstones.

## Etymology
From Middle English huske, husk (“husk”). Perhaps from Old English *husuc, *hosuc (“little covering, sheath”), diminutive of hosu (“pod, shell, husk”), from Proto-West Germanic *hosā, from Proto-Germanic *husǭ (“covering, shell, leggings”), from Proto-Indo-European *kawəs- / kawes- (“cover”). If so, equivalent to hose + -ock.
Alternatively from Middle Low German hûs(e)ken, hü̂seken (“little house, sheath”), Middle Dutch husekijn (“little house, core of fruit, case”), diminutive of hûs (“house”). Compare Dutch huisje, German Häuschen, both also used for “snailshell”.

## Easily confused with
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/husk-vs-hut)
- **Huw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/husk-vs-huw)
- **huts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/husk-vs-huts)
- **Hutt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/husk-vs-hutt)
- **Hutu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/husk-vs-hutu)
- **husky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/husk-vs-husky)
- **husks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/husk-vs-husks)
- **Hu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hu-vs-husk)
- **HK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hk-vs-husk)
- **his** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/his-vs-husk)
- **has** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/has-vs-husk)
- **huh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/huh-vs-husk)
- **hug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hug-vs-husk)
- **hub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hub-vs-husk)
- **hes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hes-vs-husk)
- **hum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-husk)
- **hue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hue-vs-husk)
- **HMS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hms-vs-husk)
- **hun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hun-vs-husk)
- **HUD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hud-vs-husk)

## Common misspellings (6)
`hhusk`, `hsuk`, `huks`, `huskk`, `hussk`, `uhsk`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/husk