pot

/pɒt/

//pɒt// noun

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

"pot" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pot” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,647) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#3,647
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A flat-bottomed vessel (usually metal) used for cooking food, possibly excluding saucepans (see usage notes).

Corpus desk

Index EN-pot · pot · English

pot · rank #3,647 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,647
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH poetry

Nearest frequency peer: poetry (-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 “pot”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “pot” 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).

pot vs PP
0% similar
pot vs PR
0% similar
pot vs pt
67% similar

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

Key facts for pot
PropertyValue
Headwordpot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɒt/
Letters3
Frequency rank#3,647
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “pot” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). pot lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for pot is neighbouring look-alikes ("PP", "PR", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /pɒt/. Frequency #3,647 among 4,417 “P” headwords. 24 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for pot, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PP", "PR", "pt", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pot, potte, from Old English pott (“pot”) and Old French pot (“pot”) (probably from Frankish *pott); both Old English and Frankish from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot”), from Proto-Indo-European *budnós (“a type of vessel”). Cognate with S… The correct English form is pot, spelled P-O-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A flat-bottomed vessel (usually metal) used for cooking food, possibly excluding saucepans (see usage notes).
  2. 2
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  3. 3
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  4. 4
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  5. 5
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  6. 6
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  7. 7
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  8. 8
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  9. 9
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  10. 10
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  11. 11
    Various similar open-topped vessels, particularly
  12. 12
    Pothole, sinkhole, vertical cave.
  13. 13
    A shallow hole used in certain games played with marbles. The marbles placed in it are called potsies.
  14. 14
    Ruin or deterioration.
  15. 15
    Any of various traditional units of volume notionally based on the capacity of a pot.
  16. 16
    An iron hat with a broad brim worn as a helmet.
  17. 17
    A pot-shaped non-conducting (usually ceramic) stand that supports an electrified rail while insulating it from the ground.
  18. 18
    The money available to be won in a hand of poker or a round of other games of chance; (figuratively) any sum of money being used as an enticement.
  19. 19
    An allocation of money for a particular purpose.
  20. 20
    A favorite: a heavily-backed horse.
  21. 21
    Clipping of potbelly (“a pot-shaped belly, a paunch”).
  22. 22
    Clipping of potshot (“a haphazard shot; an easy or cheap shot”).
  23. 23
    A plaster cast.
  24. 24
    Alternative form of pott: a former size of paper, 12.5 × 15 inches.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.
  2. Shit or get off the pot.

Etymology

From Middle English pot, potte, from Old English pott (“pot”) and Old French pot (“pot”) (probably from Frankish *pott); both Old English and Frankish from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot”), from Proto-Indo-European *budnós (“a type of vessel”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Pot (“pot”), Dutch pot (“pot”), German Low German Pott (“pot”), German Pott (“pot”), Swedish potta (“chamber pot”), Icelandic pottur (“tub, pot”), Old Armenian պոյտն (poytn, “pot, earthen pot”). Also, Old Norse pottr (“pot, tub, basin”). The sense of ruin or deterioration was originally a general allusion to "being chopped up and tossed in a (normally fiery) pot, like a piece of meat" (i.e. to get wasted or done with (by someone)). The 'clean' slang term which was used in reference to toilet rooms and lavatories apparently derives from English chamberpots, although now usually encountered as potty in the context of children's toilet training.

This word in other languages

olla(Español)pot(Français)Topf(Deutsch)pote(Português)

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 "pot"?
"pot" is spelled P-O-T. The IPA pronunciation is /pɒt/.
What does "pot" mean?
As a noun, "pot" means: A flat-bottomed vessel (usually metal) used for cooking food, possibly excluding saucepans (see usage notes).
What words are commonly confused with "pot"?
"pot" is commonly confused with "PP", "PR", "pt". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pot"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pot" is /pɒt/. 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 "pot"?
From Middle English pot, potte, from Old English pott (“pot”) and Old French pot (“pot”) (probably from Frankish *pott); both Old English and Frankish from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot”), from Proto-Indo-European *budnós (“a type of vessel”). Cogn... 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 "pot", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

nah#3,638hop#3,629bye#3,674bro#3,602

What to do next

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

  • "pot" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "PP". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #3,647 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