plough

/plaʊ/

//plaʊ// noun

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

"plough" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“plough” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,887. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,887
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A device pulled through the ground in order to break it open into furrows for planting.

Corpus desk

Index EN-plough · plough · English

plough · rank #25,887 · 9 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,887
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pleasurable

Nearest frequency peer: pleasurable (-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 “plough”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “plough” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

plough vs plug
67% similar
plough vs Pugh
50% similar
plough vs plugs
67% similar

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

Key facts for plough
PropertyValue
Headwordplough
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/plaʊ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#25,887
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “plough”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ploughlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “pleasurable” (#25,886), “prefect” (#25,891), “placenta” (#25,882). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “plough” is #25,887. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around plough (IPA /plaʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,887 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for plough, with forms such as "lpough", "pllough", and "ploguh". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "plug", "Pugh", "plugs", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English plouh, plow, plugh(e), plough(e), plouw, from Old English plōh (“hide of land, ploughland”) and Old Norse plógr (“plough (the implement)”), both from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”). Cognate with Scots pleuch, plou, North Fris… The correct English form is plough, spelled P-L-O-U-G-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A device pulled through the ground in order to break it open into furrows for planting.
  2. 2
    Any of several other tools or implements that cut and push material.
  3. 3
    Any of several other tools or implements that cut and push material.
  4. 4
    Any of several other tools or implements that cut and push material.
  5. 5
    The use of a plough; tillage.
  6. 6
    Alternative form of Plough (Synonym of Ursa Major)
  7. 7
    Alternative form of ploughland, an alternative name for a carucate or hide.
  8. 8
    A yoga pose resembling a traditional plough, halāsana.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Meronyms: ploughshare, plowshare, share, moldboard, mouldboard, coulter, colter, jointer, chisel, ploughbeam, beam, ploughstaff, staff, hake
  2. The horse-drawn plough had a tremendous impact on agriculture.

Etymology

From Middle English plouh, plow, plugh(e), plough(e), plouw, from Old English plōh (“hide of land, ploughland”) and Old Norse plógr (“plough (the implement)”), both from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”). Cognate with Scots pleuch, plou, North Frisian plog, West Frisian ploech, Low German Ploog, Dutch ploeg, Russian плуг (plug), German Pflug, Danish plov, Swedish and Norwegian plog, Icelandic plógur. Replaced Old English sulh (“plough, furrow”); see sullow.

This word in other languages

arado(Español)charrue(Français)Pflug(Deutsch)arado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lpough
  • pllough
  • ploguh
  • plouggh
  • ploughh
  • plouhg
  • pluogh
  • polugh
  • pplough

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of plough - 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.

lpough2pllough1ploguh2plouggh1ploughh1plouhg2pluogh2polugh2
Edit distance from "plough"

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 "plough"?
"plough" is spelled P-L-O-U-G-H. The IPA pronunciation is /plaʊ/.
What does "plough" mean?
As a noun, "plough" means: A device pulled through the ground in order to break it open into furrows for planting.
What words are commonly confused with "plough"?
"plough" is commonly confused with "plug", "Pugh", "plugs". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "plough"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plough" is /plaʊ/. 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 "plough"?
From Middle English plouh, plow, plugh(e), plough(e), plouw, from Old English plōh (“hide of land, ploughland”) and Old Norse plógr (“plough (the implement)”), both from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”). Cognate with Scots pleuch, plou, ... 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 "plough", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Osborn#25,865revere#25,909nuance#25,861nieces#25,858

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Pharrell9 variantsRosario9 variantsnetball9 variantsmowing9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list