pike
/paɪk/
"pike" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pike” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,580. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,580
- 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 very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure against cavalry assaults.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pike · pike · English
pike · rank #11,580 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,580
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH perimeter
Nearest frequency peer: perimeter (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “pike”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- pandemic
pandemic
88,425 corpus weight
- passages
passages
88,424 corpus weight
- perimeter
perimeter
88,422 corpus weight
- pike
pike
88,421 corpus weight
- piper
piper
88,420 corpus weight
- preacher
preacher
88,419 corpus weight
What this shows “pike” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | pike |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /paɪk/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #11,580 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “pike”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around pike (IPA /paɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,580 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for pike, with forms such as "ipke", "piek", and "pikke". 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", "pin", "pit", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pyke, pyk, pik, pike (“pike; sharp point, iron tip of a staff or spear, pointed toe of an item of footwear; sharp tool; mountain, peak”), from Old English pīc (“pointed object, pick axe”), and Middle French pique (“long thrusting weapon”… The correct English form is pike, spelled P-I-K-E.
Definition
- 1A very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure against cavalry assaults.
- 2A sharp, pointed staff or implement.
- 3A large haycock (“conical stack of hay left in a field to dry before adding to a haystack”).
- 4Any carnivorous freshwater fish of the genus Esox, especially the northern pike, Esox lucius.
- 5A position with the knees straight and a tight bend at the hips with the torso folded over the legs, usually part of a jack-knife.
- 6A pointy extrusion at the toe of a shoe.
- 7A pointy extrusion at the toe of a shoe.
- 8Especially in place names: a hill or mountain, particularly one with a sharp peak or summit.
- 9A pick, a pickaxe.
- 10A hayfork.
- 11A penis.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pike appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
An arme pike which a weake man maye use or handle very reddily with such force as a man will not thincke, and the same pike will also become a very good shotte at all tymes.
Wounded and overthrown, the Britons continued their resistance, clung round the legs of the Norman steeds, and cumbered their advance; while their brethren, thrusting with pikes, proved every joint and crevice of the plate and mail, or grappling with the men-at-arms, strove to pull them from their horses by main force, or beat them down with their bills a…
Etymology
From Middle English pyke, pyk, pik, pike (“pike; sharp point, iron tip of a staff or spear, pointed toe of an item of footwear; sharp tool; mountain, peak”), from Old English pīc (“pointed object, pick axe”), and Middle French pique (“long thrusting weapon”), from Old French pic (“sharp point, spike”); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz, *pīkō (“sharp point, pike, peak”), related to pick with a narrower meaning. The word is cognate with Middle Dutch pecke, peke, picke (modern Dutch piek), German Pike, Norwegian pik, Danish pig, and possibly Old Irish pīk. It is a doublet of pique. The diving or gymnastics position is probably from tapered appearance of the body when the position is executed. The carnivorous freshwater fish is probably derived from the “sharp point, spike” senses, due to the fish’s pointed jaws. The verb sense “to quit or back out of a promise” may be from the sense of taking up pilgrim's staff or pike and leaving on a pilgrimage; and compare Middle English pī̆ken (“to go, remove oneself”) and Old Danish pikke af (“to go away”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ipke
- piek
- pikke
- pkie
- ppike
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pike - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pike", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).