ould

/aʊld/

//aʊld// adj

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

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

The verdict

“ould” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #48,397) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#48,397
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pronunciation spelling of old.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ould · ould · English

ould · rank #48,397 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #48,397
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH orthography

Nearest frequency peer: orthography (-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 neighbours of confusable “ould”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “ould” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

ould vs out
50% similar
ould vs our
50% similar
ould vs owl
50% similar

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

Key facts for ould
PropertyValue
Headwordould
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/aʊld/
Letters4
Frequency rank#48,397
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “ould”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).ouldlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “orthography” (#48,396), “ovate” (#48,398), “Onondaga” (#48,395). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “ould” is #48,397. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ould is neighbouring look-alikes ("out", "our", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /aʊld/. Frequency #48,397 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Gloss: "Pronunciation spelling of old.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for ould, with forms such as "oudl", "ouldd", and "oulld". 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, "out", "our", "owl", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Dialectal pronunciation of old, preserving 17th-century English. The correct English form is ould, spelled O-U-L-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pronunciation spelling of old.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. For quotations using this term, see Citations:ould.

Etymology

Dialectal pronunciation of old, preserving 17th-century English.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oudl
  • ouldd
  • oulld
  • uold

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ould - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

oudl2ouldd1oulld1uold2
Edit distance from "ould"

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 "ould"?
"ould" is spelled O-U-L-D. The IPA pronunciation is /aʊld/.
What does "ould" mean?
As an adjective, "ould" means: Pronunciation spelling of old.
What words are commonly confused with "ould"?
"ould" is commonly confused with "out", "our", "owl". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ould"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ould" is /aʊld/. 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 "ould"?
Dialectal pronunciation of old, preserving 17th-century English. 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 "ould", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

poon#48,420naan#48,371mudd#48,367mook#48,363

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list