oss
/ɒs/
"oss" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“oss” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,773 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #29,773
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To set about, or intend be inclined to set about (doing something).
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 | oss |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɒs/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #29,773 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oss” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for oss is 3 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɒs/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,773 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 oss in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "oz", "OT", "ou", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unclear. Middle English ōssen had a rather different meaning, "to reveal, to prophesy", but the OED suggests it could nonetheless be the same verb. The origin of the Middle English verb is itself obscure, but it may be a variant of halsen, from Old English … The correct English form is oss, spelled O-S-S.
Definition
- 1To set about, or intend be inclined to set about (doing something).
- 2To offer (to do something).
Etymology
Unclear. Middle English ōssen had a rather different meaning, "to reveal, to prophesy", but the OED suggests it could nonetheless be the same verb. The origin of the Middle English verb is itself obscure, but it may be a variant of halsen, from Old English hālsian, although this too had a rather different meaning, "to beseech, entreat; to exorcise; to imprecate".
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 “oss”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɒs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “oz” - see the side-by-side comparison. oss vs oz
- 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.