OUP

name

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

The verdict

“OUP” is uncommon English (frequency #66,167 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,167
frequency rank, English
15,494
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Initialism of Oxford University Press.

Corpus desk

Index EN-oup · OUP · English

OUP · rank #66,167 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,167
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 15,494
  • PHOTO-FINISH outstrip

Nearest frequency peer: outstrip (+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 “OUP”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “OUP” 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 May 6, 2026
Key facts for OUP
PropertyValue
HeadwordOUP
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters3
Frequency rank#66,167
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “OUP” 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). OUP lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

OUP is uncommon English at frequency #66,167 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Initialism of Oxford University Press.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for OUP in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is OUP, spelled O-U-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of Oxford University Press.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "OUP"?
"OUP" is spelled O-U-P.
What does "OUP" mean?
As a proper noun, "OUP" means: Initialism of Oxford University Press.
What language does "OUP" come from?
"OUP" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "OUP", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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