press
/pɹɛs/
"press" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“press” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #719 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #719
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | press |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɹɛs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #719 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “press” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for press is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹɛs/. Corpus data places it at rank #719 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for press, with forms such as "perss", "ppress", and "prress". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PRS", "prey", "pros", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English presse (“throng, crowd, clothespress”), partially from Old English press (“clothespress”) (from Medieval Latin pressa) and from Old French presse (Modern French presse) from Old French presser (“to press”), from Latin pressāre, from pres… The correct English form is press, spelled P-R-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.
- 2A device used to apply pressure to an item.
- 3A crowd.
- 4A printing machine.
- 5The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).
- 6A publisher.
- 7An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).
- 8An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.
- 9An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an existing (usually losing) wager in value, but begins even at the time of the bet.
- 10Pure, unfermented grape juice.
- 11A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.
- 12In personology, any environmental factor that arouses a need in the individual.
Etymology
From Middle English presse (“throng, crowd, clothespress”), partially from Old English press (“clothespress”) (from Medieval Latin pressa) and from Old French presse (Modern French presse) from Old French presser (“to press”), from Latin pressāre, from pressus, past participle of premere (“to press”). Displaced native Middle English thring (“press, crowd, throng”) (from Old English þring (“a press, crowd, anything that presses or confines”)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: perss,ppress,prress,prses,rpess
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of press - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “press”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-E-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɹɛs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “PRS” - see the side-by-side comparison. press vs PRS
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.