quays

/kiːz/

//kiːz// noun

"quays" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“quays” is uncommon English (frequency #51,338 among 288 “Q” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,338
frequency rank, English
288
“Q” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of quay

Corpus desk

Index EN-quays · quays · English

quays · rank #51,338 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,338
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 288
  • PHOTO-FINISH queso

Nearest frequency peer: queso (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “quays”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “quays” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for quays
PropertyValue
Headwordquays
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kiːz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#51,338
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “quays” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).quaysfalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “queso” (#51,339), “quinine” (#51,340), “quintus” (#51,341). Among 288 “Q” headwords, “quays” is #51,338. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

quays is uncommon English at frequency #51,338 among 288 “Q” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kiːz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "plural of quay".

Zero misspellings are on record for quays in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is quays, spelled Q-U-A-Y-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of quay

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

How do you spell "quays"?
"quays" is spelled Q-U-A-Y-S. The IPA pronunciation is /kiːz/.
What does "quays" mean?
As a noun, "quays" means: plural of quay
How do you pronounce "quays"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "quays" is /kiːz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "quays" come from?
"quays" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "quays", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list