# pose

> English word · Noun · IPA /poʊz/ · frequency rank #6,084

## Definitions
1. Common cold, head cold; catarrh.

## Etymology
From Middle English pose, from Old English ġeposu pl (“cold in the head; catarrh”, literally “(the) sneezes; (the) snorts”), from Old English pos, ġepos (“sneeze, snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *pos, from Proto-Germanic *pusą (“sneeze, snort”), from Proto-Germanic *pusōną, *pusjaną (“to snort, blow”), from *pus- (“to blow, breathe hard”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Compare Low German pusten (“to blow, puff”), German dialectal pfausen (“to sneeze, snort”), Norwegian dialectal pysa (“to blow”).

## Easily confused with
- **PS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-ps)
- **pot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pot)
- **PSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-psa)
- **PTS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pts)
- **psi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-psi)
- **POW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pow)
- **PSG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-psg)
- **POV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pov)
- **PST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pst)
- **PSP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-psp)
- **pus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pus)
- **pox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pox)
- **PSU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-psu)
- **PPS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pps)
- **PRS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-prs)
- **PSC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-psc)
- **PPE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-ppe)
- **PSL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-psl)
- **pye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-pye)
- **psh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pose-vs-psh)

## Common misspellings (4)
`opse`, `poes`, `ppose`, `psoe`

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