nick
/nɪk/
"nick" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nick” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,547. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #2,547
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small cut in a surface.
Corpus desk
Index EN-nick · nick · English
nick · rank #2,547 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #2,547
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH moves
Nearest frequency peer: moves (-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 neighbourhood for “nick”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- mile
mile
97,457 corpus weight
- motion
motion
97,456 corpus weight
- moves
moves
97,455 corpus weight
- nick
nick
97,454 corpus weight
- pacific
pacific
97,453 corpus weight
- prize
prize
97,452 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “nick” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nick |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /nɪk/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #2,547 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nick” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around nick (IPA /nɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,547 among 1,534 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for nick, with forms such as "inck", "ncik", and "nicck". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "NYC", "NIH", "nil", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Late Middle English nik (“notch, tally; nock of an arrow”). Its further etymology is unknown; a connection with nock (“notch in a bow to hold the bowstring; notch at the rear of an arrow that fits the bowstring; cleft in the buttock… The correct English form is nick, spelled N-I-C-K.
Definition
- 1A small cut in a surface.
- 2A small cut in a surface.
- 3Senses connoting something small.
- 4Senses connoting something small.
- 5Senses connoting something small.
- 6Often in the expressions in bad nick and in good nick: condition, state.
- 7A police station or prison.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nick appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
in the nick of time
When I imagin man fraughted with al the commodities may be wiſhed; […] I finde him to ſinke vnder the burthen of his eaſe, and perceive him altogether vnable to beare ſo pure, ſo conſtant, and ſo vniverſall a ſenſualitie. Truely he flies when he is even vpon the nicke, and naturally haſtneth to eſcape it, as from [a] ſtep whereon he cannot ſtay or contain…
Etymology
The noun is derived from Late Middle English nik (“notch, tally; nock of an arrow”). Its further etymology is unknown; a connection with nock (“notch in a bow to hold the bowstring; notch at the rear of an arrow that fits the bowstring; cleft in the buttocks”) has not been clearly established. The verb appears to be derived from the noun, though the available evidence shows that some of the verb senses predate the noun senses. No connection with words in Germanic languages such as Danish nikke (“to nod”), Middle Dutch nicken (“to bend; to bow”) (modern Dutch knikken (“to nod”)), Middle Low German nicken (“to bend over; to sink”), Middle High German nicken (“to bend; to depress”) (modern German nicken (“to nod”)), Middle Low German knicken (“to bend; to snap”) (modern German knicken (“to bend; to break”), Old Frisian hnekka (“to nod”), and Swedish nicka (“to nod”), has been clearly established.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- inck
- ncik
- nicck
- nickk
- nikc
- nnick
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nick - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nick", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "nick". Here's where to go from here.
- "nick" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "NYC". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #2,547 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "N" letter cohort. N–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.