# pore

> English word · Noun · IPA /pɔː(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #20,186

## Definitions
1. A tiny opening in the skin.
2. By extension any small opening or interstice, especially one of many, or one allowing the passage of a fluid.

## Etymology
From Middle English pore, from Old French pore, from Latin porus, from Ancient Greek πόρος (póros, “passage”). Displaced native English sweat hole from Middle English swet hole, which might have been a reformation of Old English swātþȳrel (literally “sweat hole”), which competed with līcþēote (literally “body pipe”).

## Easily confused with
- **PR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pr)
- **pro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pro)
- **pot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pot)
- **pos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pos)
- **POW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pow)
- **POV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pov)
- **PRC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-prc)
- **pry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pry)
- **pox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pox)
- **PRA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pra)
- **pur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pur)
- **PRS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-prs)
- **PPE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-ppe)
- **pye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pye)
- **post** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-post)
- **port** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-port)
- **pure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pure)
- **porn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-porn)
- **pose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pose)
- **pour** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pore-vs-pour)

## Common misspellings (5)
`opre`, `poer`, `porre`, `ppore`, `proe`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pore