nose

[nəʊ̯z]

/[nəʊ̯z]/ noun

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

"nose" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nose” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,956) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,956
frequency rank, English
1,534
“N” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell.

Corpus desk

Index EN-nose · nose · English

nose · rank #2,956 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,956
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,534
  • PHOTO-FINISH musical

Nearest frequency peer: musical (-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 “nose”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “nose” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

nose vs not
50% similar
nose vs now
50% similar
nose vs nov
50% similar

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

Key facts for nose
PropertyValue
Headwordnose
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[nəʊ̯z]
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,956
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “nose” sits in English frequency

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).noselands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “musical” (#2,955), “objects” (#2,957), “lock” (#2,954). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for nose is neighbouring look-alikes ("not", "now", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [nəʊ̯z]. Frequency #2,956 among 1,534 “N” headwords. 13 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for nose, with forms such as "nnose", "nosse", and "nsoe". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "not", "now", "nov", 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 nose, from Old English nosu, from Proto-West Germanic *nosu, variant of *nasō, old dual from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s- ~ *nh₂es- (“nose, nostril”). See also Saterland Frisian Noose, West Frisian noas, Dutch neus, Swedish nos, Norwegian… The correct English form is nose, spelled N-O-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell.
  2. 2
    A snout, the nose of an animal.
  3. 3
    The tip of an object.
  4. 4
    The bulge on the side of a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, that fits into the hole of its adjacent piece.
  5. 5
    The length of a horse’s nose, used to indicate the distance between horses at the finish of a race, or any very close race.
  6. 6
    A perfumer.
  7. 7
    The sense of smell.
  8. 8
    Bouquet, the smell of something, especially wine.
  9. 9
    The skill in recognising bouquet.
  10. 10
    Skill at finding information.
  11. 11
    The action of nosing, in the sense to snoop
  12. 12
    A downward projection from a cornice.
  13. 13
    An informer.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She had a small nose between two sparkling blue eyes.
  2. The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue.[…].

Etymology

From Middle English nose, from Old English nosu, from Proto-West Germanic *nosu, variant of *nasō, old dual from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s- ~ *nh₂es- (“nose, nostril”). See also Saterland Frisian Noose, West Frisian noas, Dutch neus, Swedish nos, Norwegian nos (“snout”), Low German Nääs, German Nase, Swedish näsa, Norwegian nese, Danish næse (“nose”); also Latin nāris (“nostril”), nāsus (“nose”), Lithuanian nósis, Russian нос (nos), Sanskrit नासा (nā́sā, “nostrils”).

Synonyms

tabnosebeakbeezerbokoconkhonkerhooternebpeckerproboscisschnozzschnozzleschnozzolaschnozsmellersnecksniffersnitchsnootsnotboxsnouttrunk

This word in other languages

nariz(Español)nez(Français)Nase(Deutsch)focinho(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nnose
  • nosse
  • nsoe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nose - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

nnose1nosse1nsoe2
Edit distance from "nose"

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 "nose"?
"nose" is spelled N-O-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is [nəʊ̯z].
What does "nose" mean?
As a noun, "nose" means: A protuberance on the face housing the nostrils, which are used to breathe or smell.
What words are commonly confused with "nose"?
"nose" is commonly confused with "not", "now", "nov". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nose"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nose" is [nəʊ̯z]. 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 "nose"?
From Middle English nose, from Old English nosu, from Proto-West Germanic *nosu, variant of *nasō, old dual from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s- ~ *nh₂es- (“nose, nostril”). See also Saterland Frisian Noose, West Frisian noas, Dutch neus, Swedish nos,... 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 "nose", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lock#2,954lets#2,952semi#2,965wise#2,975

What to do next

You've looked up "nose". Here's where to go from here.

  • "nose" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "not". View pair
  • 3 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #2,956 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list