Jew

/d͡ʒuː/

//d͡ʒuː// noun

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

"jew" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Jew” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8,683) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8,683
frequency rank, English
796
“J” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An adherent of Judaism.

Corpus desk

Index EN-jew · Jew · English

Jew · rank #8,683 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,683
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 796
  • PHOTO-FINISH informal

Nearest frequency peer: informal (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “Jew”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “Jew” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

Jew vs Jr
33% similar
Jew vs jo
0% similar
Jew vs JI
33% similar

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

Key facts for Jew
PropertyValue
HeadwordJew
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/d͡ʒuː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#8,683
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “Jew”

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).Jewlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “informal” (#8,682), “learnt” (#8,684), “inclined” (#8,681). Among 796 “J” headwords, “Jew” is #8,683. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for Jew is neighbouring look-alikes ("Jr", "jo", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /d͡ʒuː/. Frequency #8,683 among 796 “J” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for Jew in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Jr", "jo", "JI", 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 Jew, Giu, Giw, Ju, from Old French juiu, Giu, gyu, from Latin iūdaeus (“Judean (i.e. Jew)”), from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos), from Ἰουδά (Ioudá), Ἰούδας (Ioúdas, “Judah, Judas, Jude”) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives), from… The correct English form is Jew, spelled J-E-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    An adherent of Judaism.
  2. 2
    A member or descendant of the Jewish people.
  3. 3
    A miserly or greedy person; a cheapskate.
  4. 4
    A ship's tailor.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Both Jews and Muslims refrain from eating pork.
  2. Many Jews eat bagels.

Etymology

From Middle English Jew, Giu, Giw, Ju, from Old French juiu, Giu, gyu, from Latin iūdaeus (“Judean (i.e. Jew)”), from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos), from Ἰουδά (Ioudá), Ἰούδας (Ioúdas, “Judah, Judas, Jude”) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives), from Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה (y'hudá, “male given name, Yehuda; Judah, Judea”). Doublet of Yid. Displaced Old English Iūdēisċ.

This word in other languages

judío(Español)juif(Français)Jude(Deutsch)judeu(Português)

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 "Jew"?
"Jew" is spelled J-E-W. The IPA pronunciation is /d͡ʒuː/.
What does "Jew" mean?
As a noun, "Jew" means: An adherent of Judaism.
What words are commonly confused with "Jew"?
"Jew" is commonly confused with "Jr", "jo", "JI". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Jew"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Jew" is /d͡ʒuː/. 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 "Jew"?
From Middle English Jew, Giu, Giw, Ju, from Old French juiu, Giu, gyu, from Latin iūdaeus (“Judean (i.e. Jew)”), from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos), from Ἰουδά (Ioudá), Ἰούδας (Ioúdas, “Judah, Judas, Jude”) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjecti... 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 "Jew", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

MIA#8,692gem#8,670MTV#8,696FDA#8,665

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list