payed
"payed" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“payed” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,911. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #30,911
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Obsolete spelling of paid.
Corpus desk
Index EN-payed · payed · English
payed · rank #30,911 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #30,911
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH Parnell
Nearest frequency peer: Parnell (-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 “payed”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- paging
paging
69,094 corpus weight
- Parnell
Parnell
69,091 corpus weight
- payed
payed
69,090 corpus weight
- PDA
PDA
69,089 corpus weight
- Penang
Penang
69,088 corpus weight
- Penrith
Penrith
69,087 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “payed” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | payed |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #30,911 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “payed” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around payed, averb. Corpus frequency is #30,911 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for payed, with forms such as "apyed", "paeyd", and "payde". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ped", "pye", "pays", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. The correct English form is payed, spelled P-A-Y-E-D.
Definition
- 1Obsolete spelling of paid.
- 2Misspelling of paid.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how payed appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
...and the use and proffitt therof cominge shalbe payed to my saied Sister Jone...
It was but just in time, for, as the frigate flew round, describing a circle, as she payed off before the wind, they could perceive the breakers lashing the precipitous coast, not two cables' length from them.
Etymology
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- apyed
- paeyd
- payde
- payedd
- payyed
- ppayed
- pyaed
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of payed - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "payed"?
What does "payed" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "payed"?
What is the origin of the word "payed"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "payed", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "payed". Here's where to go from here.
- "payed" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "ped". View pair
- 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #30,911 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.