nu
/njuː/
"nu" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nu” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,967 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,967
- frequency rank, English
- 2
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The letter of the Greek alphabet Ν (N) and ν (n).
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 | nu |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /njuː/ |
| Letters | 2 |
| Frequency rank | #13,967 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nu” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for nu is 2 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /njuː/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,967 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for nu in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "NZ", "NYC", "nut", 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 Ancient Greek νῦ (nû), name for the letter of the Greek alphabet Ν (N) and ν (n). The correct English form is nu, spelled N-U.
Definition
- 1The letter of the Greek alphabet Ν (N) and ν (n).
- 2A measure of constringence in lenses or prisms.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek νῦ (nû), name for the letter of the Greek alphabet Ν (N) and ν (n).
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 “nu”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /njuː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “NZ” - see the side-by-side comparison. nu vs NZ
- 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.