paw

/pɔː/

//pɔː// noun

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

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

The verdict

“paw” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #15,469) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#15,469
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The soft foot of a mammal or other animal, generally a quadruped, that has claws or nails; comparable to a human hand or foot.

Corpus desk

Index EN-paw · paw · English

paw · rank #15,469 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,469
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Pauline

Nearest frequency peer: Pauline (-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 “paw”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “paw” 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).

paw vs PM
0% similar
paw vs PC
0% similar
paw vs PP
0% similar

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

Key facts for paw
PropertyValue
Headwordpaw
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɔː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#15,469
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “paw”

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).pawlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Pauline” (#15,468), “patrols” (#15,467), “patiently” (#15,466). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “paw” is #15,469. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for paw is neighbouring look-alikes ("PM", "PC", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /pɔː/. Frequency #15,469 among 4,417 “P” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for paw in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PM", "PC", "PP", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Frankish *pōta, from Frankish *pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”), from Proto-Germanic *putōną, whence also Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”). See more at put. Doublet of pot… The correct English form is paw, spelled P-A-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    The soft foot of a mammal or other animal, generally a quadruped, that has claws or nails; comparable to a human hand or foot.
  2. 2
    A hand.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Get your grubby paws off my things!
  2. Mrs. Hauksbee laid her hand lightly upon the ungloved paw that rested on the turned-backed ’rickshaw hood, and, looking the man full in the face, said tenderly, almost too tenderly, “I believe in you if you mistrust yourself.”

Etymology

From Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Frankish *pōta, from Frankish *pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”), from Proto-Germanic *putōną, whence also Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”). See more at put. Doublet of pote, put, and putt. Cognate with Dutch poot, poten (“to plant”), Low German Pote, German Pfote, Icelandic pota (“to stick”).

This word in other languages

pata(Español)patte(Français)Pfote(Deutsch)pata(Português)

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 "paw"?
"paw" is spelled P-A-W. The IPA pronunciation is /pɔː/.
What does "paw" mean?
As a noun, "paw" means: The soft foot of a mammal or other animal, generally a quadruped, that has claws or nails; comparable to a human hand or foot.
What words are commonly confused with "paw"?
"paw" is commonly confused with "PM", "PC", "PP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "paw"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "paw" is /pɔː/. 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 "paw"?
From Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Frankish *pōta, from Frankish *pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”), from Proto-Germanic *putōną, whence also Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”). See more at put. Doub... 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 "paw", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

PSA#15,483Rae#15,486RSS#15,496sal#15,498

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list