paddock
/ˈpædək/
"paddock" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paddock” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,161 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,161
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
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 | paddock |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpædək/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #25,161 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “paddock” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for paddock is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpædək/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,161 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for paddock, with forms such as "apddock", "paddcok", and "paddocck". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "padlock", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is almost certainly a variant of dialectal British parrock (“enclosure; park; croft, small field, paddock”), from Middle English parrok, parrock (“enclosed pasture, paddock; coop; feeding stall; cabin, hut”) [and other forms], from Old English pear… The correct English form is paddock, spelled P-A-D-D-O-C-K.
Definition
- 1A small enclosure or field of grassland, especially one used to exercise or graze horses or other animals.
- 2An enclosure next to a racecourse where horses are paraded and mounted before a race and unsaddled after a race.
- 3An area at a racing circuit where the racing vehicles are parked and worked on before and between races.
- 4A field on which a game is played; a playing field.
- 5A field of grassland of any size, either enclosed by fences or delimited by geographical boundaries, especially a large area for keeping cattle or sheep.
- 6A place in a superficial deposit where ore or washdirt (“earth rich enough in metal to pay for washing”) is excavated; also, a place for storing ore, washdirt, etc.
Etymology
The noun is almost certainly a variant of dialectal British parrock (“enclosure; park; croft, small field, paddock”), from Middle English parrok, parrock (“enclosed pasture, paddock; coop; feeding stall; cabin, hut”) [and other forms], from Old English pearroc, pearruc (“fence used to enclose a space; area enclosed by such a fence, enclosure”), from Proto-West Germanic *parruk (“enclosure; pen for animals”), from Proto-Germanic *parrukaz (“fence; enclosure”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *barō (“bar, beam; barrier”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce; to strike”). Equivalent to park + -ock. Doublet of park. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * Danish park (“pond”) * Dutch perk (“flowerbed; garden; pen”) * German Pferch (“sheepfold, sheep-pen”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: apddock,paddcok,paddocck,paddockk,paddokc,padock,padodck,pdadock,ppaddock
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of paddock - 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.
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 "paddock"?
What does "paddock" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "paddock"?
How do you pronounce "paddock"?
What is the origin of the word "paddock"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “paddock”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-D-D-O-C-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpædək/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “padlock” - see the side-by-side comparison. paddock vs padlock
- 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.