PDA

noun

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

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

The verdict

“PDA” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #30,912) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#30,912
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Initialism of personal digital assistant.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pda · PDA · English

PDA · rank #30,912 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,912
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH payed

Nearest frequency peer: payed (-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 “PDA”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “PDA” 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).

PDA vs PM
33% similar
PDA vs PP
33% similar
PDA vs PR
33% similar

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

Key facts for PDA
PropertyValue
HeadwordPDA
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters3
Frequency rank#30,912
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “PDA”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).PDAlands 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 “payed” (#30,911), “Penang” (#30,913), “Parnell” (#30,910). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “PDA” is #30,912. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for PDA is neighbouring look-alikes ("PM", "PP", …), not just typos; it is anoun. Frequency #30,912 among 4,417 “P” headwords. 9 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

PDA has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PM", "PP", "PR", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is PDA, spelled P-D-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of personal digital assistant.
  2. 2
    Initialism of public display of affection.
  3. 3
    Initialism of pushdown automaton.
  4. 4
    Initialism of property damage accident.
  5. 5
    Initialism of pathological demand avoidance.
  6. 6
    Initialism of patent ductus arteriosus.
  7. 7
    Initialism of production data acquisition.
  8. 8
    Initialism of peridural anesthesia.
  9. 9
    Initialism of program derived address.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Despite the fast pace of innovation in PDAs, particularly this year, a number of standards have emerged allowing software makers the security needed to invest in developing extensive software for three platforms: the PalmPilot made by 3Com, the Psion Series 5 by Psion and Windows CE devices made by a group of companies including Philips, Sharp Electronics…
  2. I was still pretty firmly anti-PDA, but when David kissed me—quickly, but firmly—I decided that every once in a while, it wasn’t so bad.

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 "PDA"?
"PDA" is spelled P-D-A.
What does "PDA" mean?
As a noun, "PDA" means: Initialism of personal digital assistant.
What words are commonly confused with "PDA"?
"PDA" is commonly confused with "PM", "PP", "PR". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "PDA" come from?
"PDA" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "PDA", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

o's#30,902MCS#30,883Roh#30,943jiu#30,852

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list