rib
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
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3 characters
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English
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "rib", 3-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "rib" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "rib" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
rib is aEnglishnoun. It means: Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum. Pronounced /ɹɪb/. Often confused with RS and RT.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rib |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪb/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #13,230 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for rib is 3 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪb/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,230 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for rib in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RS", "RT", "RM", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rib, ribbe, from Old English ribb (“rib”), from Proto-West Germanic *ribi, from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”). Cognate with Dutch rib (“rib”), Norwegian ribbe (“sparerib”)… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is rib, spelled R-I-B, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Any of a series of long curved bones occurring in 12 pairs in humans and other animals and extending from the spine to or toward the sternum.
- 2A part or piece, similar to a rib, and serving to shape or support something.
- 3A cut of meat enclosing one or more rib bones.
- 4Any of several curved members attached to a ship's keel and extending upward and outward to form the framework of the hull.
- 5Any of several transverse pieces that provide an aircraft wing with shape and strength.
- 6A long, narrow, usually arched member projecting from the surface of a structure, especially such a member separating the webs of a vault
- 7A strip of metal running along the top of the barrel that serves as a sighting plane.
- 8A raised ridge in knitted material or in cloth.
- 9The main, or any of the prominent veins of a leaf.
- 10A teasing joke.
- 11A single strand of hair.
- 12A stalk of celery.
- 13A wife or woman.
Etymology
From Middle English rib, ribbe, from Old English ribb (“rib”), from Proto-West Germanic *ribi, from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”). Cognate with Dutch rib (“rib”), Norwegian ribbe (“sparerib”), Norwegian ribben (“rib”), Low German ribbe (“rib”), German Rippe (“rib”), Old Norse rif (“rib, reef”), Serbo-Croatian rèbro (“rib”). (wife or woman): In reference to the creation of Eve from Adam's rib in the Bible.
This word in other languages
Frequency rank: #13,230 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter R in our English index: