knave
/neɪv/
"knave" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“knave” is an uncommon English word, ranked #53,050 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #53,050
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A boy; especially, a boy servant.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | knave |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /neɪv/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #53,050 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “knave” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for knave is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /neɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #53,050 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
knave doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English knave, knafe, from Old English cnafa (“child, boy, youth; servant”), from Proto-West Germanic *knabō. Cognate to Dutch knaap and German Knabe. The correct English form is knave, spelled K-N-A-V-E.
Definition
- 1A boy; especially, a boy servant.
- 2Any male servant; a menial.
- 3A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person.
- 4A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or a soldier.
Etymology
From Middle English knave, knafe, from Old English cnafa (“child, boy, youth; servant”), from Proto-West Germanic *knabō. Cognate to Dutch knaap and German Knabe.
This word in other languages
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
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Using “knave”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-N-A-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /neɪv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.