overspread
/əʊvəˈspɹɛd/
"overspread" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“overspread” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To spread over or across (something); cover over; be scattered over; permeate, overrun.
Corpus desk
Index EN-overspread · overspread · English
overspread · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "O" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | overspread |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əʊvəˈspɹɛd/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “overspread” in English
Rare enough to double-check
overspread is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /əʊvəˈspɹɛd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for overspread, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English overspreden, from Old English ofersprǣdan; equivalent to over- + spread. Cognate with Dutch overspreiden (“to overspread”), German überspreiten (“to overspread”). The correct English form is overspread, spelled O-V-E-R-S-P-R-E-A-D.
Definition
- 1To spread over or across (something); cover over; be scattered over; permeate, overrun.
- 2To be spread or scattered about.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how overspread appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
those nations of the North which overspread the world
Lady Bellaston fixed her eyes on Sophia whilst she spoke these words. To which that poor young lady, having her face overspread with blushes and confusion, answered, in a stammering voice […]
Etymology
From Middle English overspreden, from Old English ofersprǣdan; equivalent to over- + spread. Cognate with Dutch overspreiden (“to overspread”), German überspreiten (“to overspread”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.