pea

/piː/

//piː// noun

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

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

The verdict

“pea” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,184 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#14,184
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of certain plants of the family Fabaceae: Pisum sativum and others.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pea vs PM
0% similar
pea vs PP
0% similar
pea vs PR
0% similar

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

Key facts for pea
PropertyValue
Headwordpea
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/piː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#14,184
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pea” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). pea lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for pea is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /piː/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,184 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.

No misspelling variants are generated for pea in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PM", "PP", "PR", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Ancient Greek πίσον (píson)bor. Latin pisum Late Latin pisader. Old English pise Middle English pese English peasebf. English pea Back-formation from pease, an original singular reinterpreted as a plural. Further from Middle English pese (“a … The correct English form is pea, spelled P-E-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of certain plants of the family Fabaceae: Pisum sativum and others.
  2. 2
    Any of certain plants of the family Fabaceae: Pisum sativum and others.
  3. 3
    The edible seed of Pisum sativum.
  4. 4
    The edible seed of various other pea plants.
  5. 5
    Any of several varieties of bean.
  6. 6
    Money.

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πίσον (píson)bor. Latin pisum Late Latin pisader. Old English pise Middle English pese English peasebf. English pea Back-formation from pease, an original singular reinterpreted as a plural. Further from Middle English pese (“a pea”), from Old English pise, from Latin pisa, pisum, from Ancient Greek πίσον (píson).

This word in other languages

guisante(Español)pois(Français)Erbse(Deutsch)ervilha(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 "pea"?
"pea" is spelled P-E-A. The IPA pronunciation is /piː/.
What does "pea" mean?
As a noun, "pea" means: Any of certain plants of the family Fabaceae: Pisum sativum and others.
What words are commonly confused with "pea"?
"pea" is commonly confused with "PM", "PP", "PR". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pea"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pea" is /piː/. 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 "pea"?
Etymology tree Ancient Greek πίσον (píson)bor. Latin pisum Late Latin pisader. Old English pise Middle English pese English peasebf. English pea Back-formation from pease, an original singular reinterpreted as a plural. Further from Middle English... 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.

Using “pea”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-E-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /piː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “PM” - see the side-by-side comparison. pea vs PM
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list