pare

/pɛə/

//pɛə// verb

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

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

The verdict

“pare” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #37,620) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#37,620
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pare · pare · English

pare · rank #37,620 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #37,620
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH parkour

Nearest frequency peer: parkour (+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 “pare”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “pare” 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).

pare vs PR
0% similar
pare vs PE
0% similar
pare vs per
50% similar

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

Key facts for pare
PropertyValue
Headwordpare
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/pɛə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#37,620
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “pare”

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).parelands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “parkour” (#37,621), “parabolic” (#37,618), “parlance” (#37,622). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pare” is #37,620. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for pare is neighbouring look-alikes ("PR", "PE", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /pɛə/. Frequency #37,620 among 4,417 “P” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for pare, with forms such as "apre", "parre", and "ppare". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PR", "PE", "per", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“I prepare, arrange; I provide, furnish; I resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“I bear, I give birth to; I spawn, produce, beget; I procure, acquire”)), from … The correct English form is pare, spelled P-A-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife.
  2. 2
    To reduce, diminish or trim gradually something as if by cutting off.
  3. 3
    To trim the hoof of a horse.
  4. 4
    To sharpen a pencil.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Victor pared some apples in preparation to make a tart.
  2. Albert had to pare his options down by disregarding anything beyond his meager budget.

Etymology

From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“I prepare, arrange; I provide, furnish; I resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“I bear, I give birth to; I spawn, produce, beget; I procure, acquire”)), from a Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to bring forward, bring forth”).

This word in other languages

pelar(Español)éplucher(Français)schälen(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • apre
  • parre
  • ppare
  • prae

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pare - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

apre2parre1ppare1prae2
Edit distance from "pare"

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 "pare"?
"pare" is spelled P-A-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pɛə/.
What does "pare" mean?
As a verb, "pare" means: To remove the outer covering or skin of something with a cutting device, typically a knife.
What words are commonly confused with "pare"?
"pare" is commonly confused with "PR", "PE", "per". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pare"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pare" is /pɛə/. 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 "pare"?
From Middle English paren, from Old French parer (“to arrange, prepare, trim”), from Latin parō (“I prepare, arrange; I provide, furnish; I resolve, purpose”) (related to pariō (“I bear, I give birth to; I spawn, produce, beget; I procure, acquire... 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 "pare", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

pail#37,615phat#37,626neve#37,593scab#37,672

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list