English Word Reference Free

node

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "node", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "node" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "node" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

node is aEnglishnoun. It means: A knot, knob, protuberance or swelling. Pronounced /nəʊd/. It ranks #8,583 in English word frequency. Often confused with not and now.

Key facts for node
PropertyValue
Headwordnode
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/nəʊd/
Letters4
Frequency rank#8,583
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of node in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for node is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /nəʊd/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,583 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for node, with forms such as "ndoe", "nnode", and "nodde". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "not", "now", "non", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English node, borrowed from Latin nōdus. Doublet of knot, knout, and nodus. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is node, spelled N-O-D-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A knot, knob, protuberance or swelling.
  2. 2
    The point where the orbit of a planet, as viewed from the Sun, intersects the ecliptic. The ascending and descending nodes refer respectively to the points where the planet moves from South to North and N to S; their respective symbols are ☊ and ☋.
  3. 3
    A leaf node.
  4. 4
    A computer or other device attached to a network.
  5. 5
    The point at which the lines of a funicular machine meet from different angular directions.
  6. 6
    The point at which a curve crosses itself, being a double point of the curve. See crunode and acnode.
  7. 7
    A similar point on a surface, where there is more than one tangent-plane.
  8. 8
    A vertex or a leaf in a graph of a network, or other element in a data structure.
  9. 9
    A hard concretion or incrustation which forms upon bones attacked with rheumatism, gout, or syphilis; sometimes also, a swelling in the neighborhood of a joint.
  10. 10
    A point along a standing wave where the wave has minimal amplitude.
  11. 11
    The knot, intrigue, or plot of a dramatic work.
  12. 12
    A hole in the gnomon of a sundial, through which passes the ray of light which marks the hour of the day, the parallels of the Sun's declination, its place in the ecliptic, etc.
  13. 13
    The word of interest in a KWIC, surrounded by left and right cotexts.
  14. 14
    A region of an electric circuit connected only by (ideal) wires (i.e. the voltage between any two points on the same node must be zero).
  15. 15
    A point in a parse tree that can be assigned a syntactic category label.
  16. 16
    A point in a cladogram from which two clades branch, representing the presumed ancestor.

Etymology

From Middle English node, borrowed from Latin nōdus. Doublet of knot, knout, and nodus.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ndoe,nnode,nodde,noed,onde

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for node

Misspelling Variants of "node"

ndoe4nnode5nodde5noed4onde4
Misspelling Variants of "node"

Frequency rank: #8,583 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "node"?
"node" is spelled N-O-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /nəʊd/.
What does "node" mean?
As a noun, "node" means: A knot, knob, protuberance or swelling.
What words are commonly confused with "node"?
"node" is commonly confused with "not", "now", "non". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "node"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "node" is /nəʊd/. 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 "node"?
From Middle English node, borrowed from Latin nōdus. Doublet of knot, knout, and nodus. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter N in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.