rouse
/ˈɹaʊz/
"rouse" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rouse” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,559 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,559
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An arousal.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rouse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹaʊz/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #25,559 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rouse” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for rouse is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹaʊz/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,559 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for rouse, with forms such as "oruse", "rosue", and "roues". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "rue", "Rus", "rule", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rousen, from Anglo-Norman reuser, ruser, originally used in English of hawks shaking the feathers of the body, from Latin recūsō, by loss of the medial 'c.' Doublet of recuse. Figurative meaning “to stir up, provoke to activity” is from … The correct English form is rouse, spelled R-O-U-S-E.
Definition
- 1An arousal.
- 2The sounding of a bugle in the morning after reveille, to signal that soldiers are to rise from bed, often the rouse.
Etymology
From Middle English rousen, from Anglo-Norman reuser, ruser, originally used in English of hawks shaking the feathers of the body, from Latin recūsō, by loss of the medial 'c.' Doublet of recuse. Figurative meaning “to stir up, provoke to activity” is from 1580s; that of “awaken” is first recorded 1590s.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: oruse,rosue,roues,rousse,rrouse,ruose
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rouse - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “rouse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-O-U-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹaʊz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “rue” - see the side-by-side comparison. rouse vs rue
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.