# raft

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɹɑːft/ · frequency rank #15,892

## Definitions
1. A flat-bottomed craft able to float and drift on water, used for transport or as a waterborne platform.
2. Any flattish thing, usually wooden, used in a similar fashion.
3. A thick crowd of seabirds or sea mammals, particularly a group of penguins when in the water.
4. A collection of logs, fallen trees, etc. which obstructs navigation in a river.
5. A slice of toast.
6. A square array of sensors forming part of a large telescope.
7. A mass of congealed solids that forms on a consommé because of the protein in the egg white.

## Etymology
Late Middle English, of North Germanic origin, from West Old Norse raptr, from Proto-Germanic *raf-tra-, from Proto-Indo-European *rap-tro-, from *rep- (“stake, beam”). See also Norwegian raft (“beam, rafter”), Danish raft (“thin pole”). Compare also Albanian trap (“raft, ferry”).

## Easily confused with
- **RT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rt)
- **RF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rf)
- **ran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-ran)
- **ray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-ray)
- **raw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-raw)
- **RAM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-ram)
- **rat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rat)
- **rap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rap)
- **ref** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-ref)
- **rot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rot)
- **rag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rag)
- **raj** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-raj)
- **Rao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rao)
- **ras** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-ras)
- **ret** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-ret)
- **rut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rut)
- **rah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rah)
- **rav** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rav)
- **RFA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rfa)
- **rit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/raft-vs-rit)

## Common misspellings (6)
`arft`, `rafft`, `raftt`, `ratf`, `rfat`, `rraft`

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