joist

/d͡ʒɔɪst/

//d͡ʒɔɪst// noun

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

"joist" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“joist” is uncommon English (frequency #70,792 among 796 “J” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,792
frequency rank, English
796
“J” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A piece of timber or steel laid horizontally, or nearly so, to which the planks of the floor, or the laths or furring strips of a ceiling, are nailed.

Corpus desk

Index EN-joist · joist · English

joist · rank #70,792 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,792
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 796
  • PHOTO-FINISH jol

Nearest frequency peer: jol (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “joist”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “joist” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for joist
PropertyValue
Headwordjoist
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/d͡ʒɔɪst/
Letters5
Frequency rank#70,792
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “joist” in English

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).joistfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “jol” (#70,793), “jingling” (#70,790), “Janson” (#70,786). Among 796 “J” headwords, “joist” is #70,792. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

joist is uncommon English at frequency #70,792 among 796 “J” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /d͡ʒɔɪst/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A piece of timber or steel laid horizontally, or nearly so, to which the planks of the floor, or the laths or furring strips of a ceiling, are nailed.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for joist in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French giste, feminine of gist, the past participle of gesir (“to lie down”). The correct English form is joist, spelled J-O-I-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A piece of timber or steel laid horizontally, or nearly so, to which the planks of the floor, or the laths or furring strips of a ceiling, are nailed.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. […] a Family was infected there, in so terrible a Manner that every one of the House died; the last Person lay dead on the Floor, and as it is supposed, had laid her self all along to die just before the Fire; the Fire, it seems had fallen from its Place, being of Wood, and had taken hold of the Boards and the Joists they lay on, and burnt as far as just…
  2. There are generally forty-two teeth in all; in old whales, much worn down, but undecayed; nor filled after our artificial fashion. The jaw is afterwards sawn into slabs, and piled away like joists for building houses.

Etymology

From Old French giste, feminine of gist, the past participle of gesir (“to lie down”).

This word in other languages

solive(Français)Balken(Deutsch)

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 "joist"?
"joist" is spelled J-O-I-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is /d͡ʒɔɪst/.
What does "joist" mean?
As a noun, "joist" means: A piece of timber or steel laid horizontally, or nearly so, to which the planks of the floor, or the laths or furring strips of a ceiling, are nailed.
How do you pronounce "joist"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "joist" is /d͡ʒɔɪst/. 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 "joist"?
From Old French giste, feminine of gist, the past participle of gesir (“to lie down”). 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 "joist", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Jabal#70,784Klang#70,813kohls#70,814hyoid#70,761

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list