# rivet

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɹɪvət/ · frequency rank #42,384

## Definitions
1. A cylindrical mechanical fastener which is supplied with a factory head at one end and is used to attach multiple parts together by passing its bucktail through a hole and upsetting its end to form a field head.
2. Any fixed point or certain basis.
3. A light kind of footman's plate armour; an almain rivet.

## Etymology
From Old French rivet (13th century), from the verb Old French river (“to fetter [a person]”) (12th century), from Old French rive (“rim, edge”) (ca. 1100), which is ultimately from Latin ripa (“riverbank”). Compare river, rival, riparian.
The sense "kind of footman's armour" is apparently a back-formation from almain rivet, which is apparently derived from the English noun; see that entry for more.

## Easily confused with
- **rove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rivet-vs-rove)
- **rover** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rivet-vs-rover)
- **ret** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ret-vs-rivet)
- **rit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rit-vs-rivet)
- **ride** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ride-vs-rivet)
- **rise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rise-vs-rivet)
- **rice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rice-vs-rivet)
- **riot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/riot-vs-rivet)
- **ripe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ripe-vs-rivet)
- **rift** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rift-vs-rivet)
- **rite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rite-vs-rivet)
- **rave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rave-vs-rivet)
- **rife** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rife-vs-rivet)
- **Riva** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/riva-vs-rivet)
- **right** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/right-vs-rivet)
- **river** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/river-vs-rivet)
- **rival** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rival-vs-rivet)
- **rises** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rises-vs-rivet)
- **rides** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rides-vs-rivet)
- **rider** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rider-vs-rivet)

## Common misspellings (7)
`irvet`, `rievt`, `rivett`, `rivte`, `rivvet`, `rrivet`, `rviet`

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