kid

/kɪd/

//kɪd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“kid” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,107 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,107
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A child, adolescent, or (loosely) a young adult.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

kid vs ky
33% similar
kid vs ko
33% similar
kid vs Ku
0% similar

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

Key facts for kid
PropertyValue
Headwordkid
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɪd/
Letters3
Frequency rank#1,107
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “kid” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). kid lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for kid is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kɪd/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,107 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for kid, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ky", "ko", "Ku", and more, 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 kide, from Old Norse kið (“young goat”), from Proto-Germanic *kidją, *kittīną (“goatling, kid”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰaydn-, *ǵʰaydn- (“goat”) or Proto-Indo-European *gidʰ- (“kid, goatling, little goat”). Compare Swedish a… The correct English form is kid, spelled K-I-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A child, adolescent, or (loosely) a young adult.
  2. 2
    A child, adolescent, or (loosely) a young adult.
  3. 3
    A child, adolescent, or (loosely) a young adult.
  4. 4
    A child, adolescent, or (loosely) a young adult.
  5. 5
    A child, adolescent, or (loosely) a young adult.
  6. 6
    A young goat.
  7. 7
    A young goat.
  8. 8
    A young goat.
  9. 9
    A young antelope.
  10. 10
    A deception; an act of kidding somebody.
  11. 11
    A small wooden mess tub in which sailors received their food.

Etymology

From Middle English kide, from Old Norse kið (“young goat”), from Proto-Germanic *kidją, *kittīną (“goatling, kid”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰaydn-, *ǵʰaydn- (“goat”) or Proto-Indo-European *gidʰ- (“kid, goatling, little goat”). Compare Swedish and Danish kid, German Kitz and Kitze, Albanian kedh and kec. The sense of child has been in use since the 1590s as slang, and since the 1840s in informal use.

This word in other languages

niño(Español)gamin(Français)Kind(Deutsch)criança(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 "kid"?
"kid" is spelled K-I-D. The IPA pronunciation is /kɪd/.
What does "kid" mean?
As a noun, "kid" means: A child, adolescent, or (loosely) a young adult.
What words are commonly confused with "kid"?
"kid" is commonly confused with "ky", "ko", "Ku". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "kid"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kid" is /kɪd/. 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 "kid"?
From Middle English kide, from Old Norse kið (“young goat”), from Proto-Germanic *kidją, *kittīną (“goatling, kid”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰaydn-, *ǵʰaydn- (“goat”) or Proto-Indo-European *gidʰ- (“kid, goatling, little goat”). Compare... 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.

Using “kid”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is K-I-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /kɪd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ky” - see the side-by-side comparison. kid vs ky
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list