plum

/plʌm/

//plʌm// noun

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

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

The verdict

“plum” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,984. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,984
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The fruit and its tree.

Corpus desk

Index EN-plum · plum · English

plum · rank #13,984 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,984
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH plural

Nearest frequency peer: plural (+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 “plum”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “plum” 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).

plum vs PM
0% similar
plum vs PU
0% similar
plum vs put
50% similar

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

Key facts for plum
PropertyValue
Headwordplum
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/plʌm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#13,984
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “plum” sits in English frequency

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).plum lands 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. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around plum (IPA /plʌm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,984 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 20 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for plum, with forms such as "lpum", "pllum", and "plmu". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PM", "PU", "put", 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 plomme, ploume, from Old English plūme, from Proto-West Germanic *plūmā, borrowed from Latin prūnum. Doublet of prune. The correct English form is plum, spelled P-L-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    The fruit and its tree.
  2. 2
    The fruit and its tree.
  3. 3
    The fruit and its tree.
  4. 4
    The fruit and its tree.
  5. 5
    The fruit and its tree.
  6. 6
    The fruit and its tree.
  7. 7
    The fruit and its tree.
  8. 8
    The fruit and its tree.
  9. 9
    The fruit and its tree.
  10. 10
    The fruit and its tree.
  11. 11
    The fruit and its tree.
  12. 12
    The fruit and its tree.
  13. 13
    The fruit and its tree.
  14. 14
    The fruit and its tree.
  15. 15
    The fruit and its tree.
  16. 16
    Extended senses.
  17. 17
    Extended senses.
  18. 18
    Extended senses.
  19. 19
    Extended senses.
  20. 20
    Extended senses.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. “Bright boy! here’s a plum for you,” and Polly threw a plump raisin into his mouth.
  2. Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, eating a Christmas pie; he put in his thumb, and he took out a plum, and said, “What a good boy am I!”

Etymology

From Middle English plomme, ploume, from Old English plūme, from Proto-West Germanic *plūmā, borrowed from Latin prūnum. Doublet of prune.

Synonyms

plum treeplumtreeume

This word in other languages

ciruela(Español)prune(Français)Pflaume(Deutsch)ameixa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lpum
  • pllum
  • plmu
  • plumm
  • pplum
  • pulm

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

lpum2pllum1plmu2plumm1pplum1pulm2
Edit distance from "plum"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "plum"?
"plum" is spelled P-L-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /plʌm/.
What does "plum" mean?
As a noun, "plum" means: The fruit and its tree.
What words are commonly confused with "plum"?
"plum" is commonly confused with "PM", "PU", "put". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "plum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plum" is /plʌm/. 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 "plum"?
From Middle English plomme, ploume, from Old English plūme, from Proto-West Germanic *plūmā, borrowed from Latin prūnum. Doublet of prune. 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 "plum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

puff#13,992mash#13,954lush#13,951lore#13,950

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Reggie6 variantsslid6 variantskang6 variantsIndy6 variants

What to do next

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

  • "plum" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "PM". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #13,984 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