ream
/ɹiːm/
"ream" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ream” is uncommon English (frequency #57,009 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,009
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ream · ream · English
ream · rank #57,009 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,009
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH redder
Nearest frequency peer: redder (+2 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 “ream”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- rationalizi…
rationalizing
42,995 corpus weight
- ream
ream
42,992 corpus weight
- redder
redder
42,990 corpus weight
- refractor
refractor
42,989 corpus weight
- regrow
regrow
42,987 corpus weight
- remotest
remotest
42,986 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “ream” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ream |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹiːm/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #57,009 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ream” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ream is uncommon English at frequency #57,009 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɹiːm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Cream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general.".
ream doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English reme, rem, from Old English rēam (“cream”), from Proto-West Germanic *raum, from Proto-Germanic *raumaz (“cream”), from Proto-Indo-European *réwgʰmn̥ (“to sour [milk]”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Room (“cream”), West Frisian rjemme … The correct English form is ream, spelled R-E-A-M.
Definition
- 1Cream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general.
Etymology
From Middle English reme, rem, from Old English rēam (“cream”), from Proto-West Germanic *raum, from Proto-Germanic *raumaz (“cream”), from Proto-Indo-European *réwgʰmn̥ (“to sour [milk]”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Room (“cream”), West Frisian rjemme (“cream”), Dutch room (“cream”), German Low German Rahm, Rohm (“cream”), German Rahm (“cream”), Swedish römme (“cream”), Norwegian rømme (“sour cream”), Faroese rómi (“cream”), Icelandic rjómi (“cream”). See also ramekin.
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.
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ream", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).