peg
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
3 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "peg", 3-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "peg" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "peg" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
peg is aEnglishnoun. It means: A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects. Pronounced /pɛɡ/. Often confused with PM and PP.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | peg |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɛɡ/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #15,243 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for peg is 3 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɛɡ/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,243 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 18 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for peg in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PM", "PP", "PR", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Lo… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is peg, spelled P-E-G, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A cylindrical wooden or metal object used to fasten or as a bearing between objects.
- 2A protrusion used to hang things on.
- 3A support; a reason; a pretext.
- 4A peg moved on a crib board to keep score.
- 5A fixed exchange rate, where a currency's value is matched to the value of another currency or measure such as gold.
- 6A small quantity of a strong alcoholic beverage.
- 7A place formally allotted for fishing
- 8A leg or foot.
- 9One of the pins of a musical instrument, on which the strings are strained.
- 10A step; a degree.
- 11Ellipsis of clothes peg.
- 12A topic of interest, such as an ongoing event or an anniversary, around which various features can be developed.
- 13A stump.
- 14The penetration during anal sex using a strap-on dildo.
- 15A serving of brandy and soda.
- 16A serving of any hard spirit, particularly whisky.
- 17A shilling.
- 18An easily recalled image that a person mentally visualizes with something else, in order to remember that other thing. See mnemonic peg system.
Etymology
From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Low German pig, pigge (“peg, stick with a point”), Low German pegel (“post, stake”), Swedish pigg (“tooth, spike”), Danish pig (“spike”), Norwegian Bokmål pigg (“spike”), Irish bac (“stick, crook”), Latin baculum (“staff”), Latvian bakstît (“to poke”), Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron, “staff, walking stick”). Related to beak. This is one of the very few English words that begin with a p and come from Proto-Germanic. Proto-Germanic *p, when not in a consonant cluster beginning with *s, developed by Grimm's law from the Proto-Indo-European consonant *b, which was very rare. (To indicate or ascribe an attribute to): Assumed to originate from the use of pegs or pins as markers on a bulletin board or a list.
This word in other languages
Frequency rank: #15,243 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "peg"?
What does "peg" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "peg"?
How do you pronounce "peg"?
What is the origin of the word "peg"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index: