peak

/piːk/

//piːk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“peak” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,847. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,847
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.

Corpus desk

Index EN-peak · peak · English

peak · rank #2,847 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,847
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH PC

Nearest frequency peer: PC (-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 “peak”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “peak” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

peak vs PK
0% similar
peak vs per
50% similar
peak vs pet
50% similar

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

Key facts for peak
PropertyValue
Headwordpeak
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/piːk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,847
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “peak” sits in English frequency

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).peaklands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “PC” (#2,846), “portion” (#2,848), “officially” (#2,845). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around peak (IPA /piːk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,847 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for peak, with forms such as "epak", "paek", and "peakk". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PK", "per", "pet", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier peake, peek, peke, from Middle English pek (in place names), itself an alteration of pike, pyke, pyk (“a sharp point, pike”), from Old English pīc, piic (“a pike, needle, pin, peak, pinnacle”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic… The correct English form is peak, spelled P-E-A-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
  2. 2
    The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.
  3. 3
    The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point.
  4. 4
    The whole hill or mountain, especially when isolated.
  5. 5
    visor (horizontal part of a cap sticking out in front and shading the wearer's eyes)
  6. 6
    The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
  7. 7
    The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.
  8. 8
    The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.
  9. 9
    A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.
  10. 10
    Something of exceptional quality.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A less risky method is to lift your whisk or beater to check the condition of the peaks of the egg whites; the foam should be just stiff enough to stand up in well-defined, unwavering peaks.
  2. The stock market reached a peak in September 1929.

Etymology

From earlier peake, peek, peke, from Middle English pek (in place names), itself an alteration of pike, pyke, pyk (“a sharp point, pike”), from Old English pīc, piic (“a pike, needle, pin, peak, pinnacle”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz (“peak”). Cognate with Dutch piek (“pike, point, summit, peak”), Danish pik (“pike, peak”), Swedish pik (“pike, lance, point, peak”), Norwegian pik (“peak, summit”). More at pike.

This word in other languages

pico(Español)pic(Français)Höchststand(Deutsch)ponta(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epak
  • paek
  • peakk
  • peka
  • ppeak

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of peak - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

epak2paek2peakk1peka2ppeak1
Edit distance from "peak"

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 "peak"?
"peak" is spelled P-E-A-K. The IPA pronunciation is /piːk/.
What does "peak" mean?
As a noun, "peak" means: A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
What words are commonly confused with "peak"?
"peak" is commonly confused with "PK", "per", "pet". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "peak"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "peak" is /piːk/. 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 "peak"?
From earlier peake, peek, peke, from Middle English pek (in place names), itself an alteration of pike, pyke, pyk (“a sharp point, pike”), from Old English pīc, piic (“a pike, needle, pin, peak, pinnacle”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Prot... 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 "peak", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

puts#2,852loud#2,841hong#2,838haha#2,833

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

cake5 variantsbike5 variantsages5 variantssing5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "peak". Here's where to go from here.

  • "peak" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "PK". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #2,847 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list