planer
/ˈpleɪ̯n.əɹ/
"planer" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“planer” is uncommon English (frequency #62,415 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #62,415
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tool which smooths a surface or makes one surface of a workpiece parallel to the tool's bed.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | planer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpleɪ̯n.əɹ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #62,415 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “planer” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
planer is uncommon English at frequency #62,415 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpleɪ̯n.əɹ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for planer, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English planer, planere, equivalent to plane + -er. The correct English form is planer, spelled P-L-A-N-E-R.
Definition
- 1A tool which smooths a surface or makes one surface of a workpiece parallel to the tool's bed.
- 2A person employed to use this kind of woodworking tool.
- 3A large machine tool in which the workpiece is traversed linearly (by means of a reciprocating bed) beneath a single-point cutting tool. (Analogous to a shaper but larger and with the workpiece moving instead of the tool.) Planers can generate various shapes, but were most especially used to generate large, accurate flat surfaces. The planer is nowadays obsolescent, having been mostly superseded by large milling machines.
- 4A wooden block used for forcing down the type in a form, and making the surface even.
Etymology
From Middle English planer, planere, equivalent to plane + -er.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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 "planer"?
What does "planer" mean?
How do you pronounce "planer"?
What is the origin of the word "planer"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “planer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-L-A-N-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpleɪ̯n.əɹ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.