mow

/məʊ/

//məʊ// verb

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

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

The verdict

“mow” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #25,486) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#25,486
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cut down grass or crops.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mow · mow · English

mow · rank #25,486 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,486
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mower

Nearest frequency peer: mower (+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 “mow”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “mow” 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).

mow vs my
33% similar
mow vs Mr
0% similar
mow vs MS
0% similar

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

Key facts for mow
PropertyValue
Headwordmow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/məʊ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#25,486
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “mow”

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).mowlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “mower” (#25,487), “mot” (#25,484), “mozzarella” (#25,488). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mow” is #25,486. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for mow is neighbouring look-alikes ("my", "Mr", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /məʊ/. Frequency #25,486 among 4,057 “M” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for mow in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "my", "Mr", "MS", 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 mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian mjo… The correct English form is mow, spelled M-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cut down grass or crops.
  2. 2
    To cut down or slaughter in great numbers.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He mowed the lawn every few weeks in the summer.
  2. In the afternoon they attacked again, in close formation: our artillery mowed them, but they came on and on, […]

Etymology

From Middle English mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian mjo (“to mow”), Dutch maaien (“to mow”), German mähen (“to mow”), Luxembourgish méien (“to mow”), Danish meje (“to mow”), Swedish meja (“to mow”); see also Hittite [script needed] (ḫamešḫa, “spring/early summer”, literally “mowing time”), Latin metō (“to harvest, mow”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to mow”).

This word in other languages

podar(Español)faucher(Français)mähen(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 "mow"?
"mow" is spelled M-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /məʊ/.
What does "mow" mean?
As a verb, "mow" means: To cut down grass or crops.
What words are commonly confused with "mow"?
"mow" is commonly confused with "my", "Mr", "MS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mow" is /məʊ/. 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 "mow"?
From Middle English mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”). Cognate with Saterland F... 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 "mow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

mot#25,484MLM#25,478nia#25,497pao#25,514

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list