nut

/nʌt/

//nʌt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“nut” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,715 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#6,715
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of various hard-shelled seeds or hard, dry fruits from various families of plants.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

nut vs NZ
0% similar
nut vs NYC
0% similar
nut vs nye
33% similar

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

Key facts for nut
PropertyValue
Headwordnut
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/nʌt/
Letters3
Frequency rank#6,715
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “nut” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). nut lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for nut is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /nʌt/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,715 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 21 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No generated misspelling entries exist for nut 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", "nye", 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 note, nute, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the restriction o… The correct English form is nut, spelled N-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of various hard-shelled seeds or hard, dry fruits from various families of plants.
  2. 2
    Any of various hard-shelled seeds or hard, dry fruits from various families of plants.
  3. 3
    A piece of hardware, typically metal and typically hexagonal or square in shape, with a hole through it having internal screw threads, intended to be screwed onto a threaded bolt or other threaded shaft.
  4. 4
    The head.
  5. 5
    A crazy person.
  6. 6
    An extreme enthusiast.
  7. 7
    An extravagantly fashionable young man.
  8. 8
    Senses related to male genitalia.
  9. 9
    Senses related to male genitalia.
  10. 10
    Senses related to male genitalia.
  11. 11
    Senses related to male genitalia.
  12. 12
    Monthly expense to keep a venture running.
  13. 13
    The amount of money necessary to set up some venture; set-up costs.
  14. 14
    A stash of money owned by an extremely rich investor, sufficient to sustain a high level of consumption if all other money is lost.
  15. 15
    On stringed instruments such as guitars and violins, the small piece at the peghead end of the fingerboard that holds the strings at the proper spacing and, in most cases, the proper height.
  16. 16
    En, a unit of measurement equal to half of the height of the type in use.
  17. 17
    A shaped piece of metal, threaded by a wire loop, which is jammed in a crack in the rockface and used to protect a climb. (Originally, machine nuts [sense #2] were used for this purpose.)
  18. 18
    The best possible hand of a certain type. Compare nuts (“the best possible hand available”).
  19. 19
    The tumbler of a gunlock.
  20. 20
    A projection on each side of the shank of an anchor, to secure the stock in place.
  21. 21
    A small rounded cake or cookie.

Etymology

From Middle English note, nute, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the restriction of the root to Germanic, Celtic and Italic, it has been argued to be of non-Indo-European (substrate) origin. See also West Frisian nút, Dutch noot, German Nuss, Danish nød, Swedish nöt, Norwegian nøtt.

Synonyms

nut

This word in other languages

nuez(Español)fruit sec(Français)Nuss(Deutsch)noz(Português)

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 "nut"?
"nut" is spelled N-U-T. The IPA pronunciation is /nʌt/.
What does "nut" mean?
As a noun, "nut" means: Any of various hard-shelled seeds or hard, dry fruits from various families of plants.
What words are commonly confused with "nut"?
"nut" is commonly confused with "NZ", "NYC", "nye". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nut"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nut" is /nʌt/. 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 "nut"?
From Middle English note, nute, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the res... 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.

Using “nut”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is N-U-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /nʌt/ (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. nut 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list