rout

/ɹaʊt/

//ɹaʊt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"rout" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“rout” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,914. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,914
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A group of people; a crowd, a throng, a troop; in particular (archaic), a group of people accompanying or travelling with someone.

Corpus desk

Index EN-rout · rout · English

rout · rank #25,914 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,914
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH Rosario

Nearest frequency peer: Rosario (-1 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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “rout”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “rout” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

rout vs RT
0% similar
rout vs run
50% similar
rout vs row
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for rout
PropertyValue
Headwordrout
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹaʊt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#25,914
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “rout”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).routlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Rosario” (#25,913), “Saab” (#25,915), “romantically” (#25,912). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “rout” is #25,914. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around rout (IPA /ɹaʊt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,914 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for rout, with forms such as "orut", "rotu", and "routt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RT", "run", "row", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English rout, route (“group of people associated with one another, company; entourage, retinue; army; group of soldiers; group of pirates; large number of people, crowd; throng; group of disreputable people, mob; riot; group … The correct English form is rout, spelled R-O-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A group of people; a crowd, a throng, a troop; in particular (archaic), a group of people accompanying or travelling with someone.
  2. 2
    A group of animals, especially one which is lively or unruly, or made up of wild animals such as wolves; a flock, a herd, a pack.
  3. 3
    A group of disorganized things.
  4. 4
    A group of (often violent) criminals or gangsters; such people as a class; (more generally) a disorderly and tumultuous crowd, a mob; hence (archaic, preceded by the), the common people as a group, the rabble.
  5. 5
    A fashionable assembly; a large evening party, a soirée.
  6. 6
    A noisy disturbance; also, a disorderly argument or fight, a brawl; (uncountable) disturbance of the peace, commotion, tumult.
  7. 7
    An illegal assembly of people; specifically, three or more people who have come together intending to do something illegal, and who have taken steps towards this, regarded as more serious than an unlawful assembly but not as serious as a riot; the act of assembling in this manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how rout appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. A route of people there aſſembled were, / Of euery ſort and nation vnder skye, [...]
  2. The Incorporations this year did moſtly conſiſt of Cantabrigians who had lately come to this University for preferment from the Viſitors, when the great rout of Royalliſts were by then made in this University.

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English rout, route (“group of people associated with one another, company; entourage, retinue; army; group of soldiers; group of pirates; large number of people, crowd; throng; group of disreputable people, mob; riot; group of animals; group of objects; proper condition or manner”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman route, rute, Middle French rote, route, Old French rote, route, rute (“group of people, company; group of armed people; group of criminals; group of cattle”) (modern French route (obsolete)), from Latin rupta (compare Late Latin ruta, rutta (“group of marauders; riot; unlawful assembly”)), the feminine of ruptus (“broken; burst, ruptured”), the perfect passive participle of rumpō (“to break, burst, rupture, tear; to force open; (figurative) to annul; to destroy; to interrupt”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (“to break; to tear (up)”). The English word is a doublet of route. The verb is derived from Middle English routen (“to assemble, congregate; of animals: to herd together; to regroup, make a stand against; to be riotous, to riot”) [and other forms], from rout, route (noun); see above.

This word in other languages

raout(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • orut
  • rotu
  • routt
  • rrout
  • ruot

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rout - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

orut2rotu2routt1rrout1ruot2
Edit distance from "rout"

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

How do you spell "rout"?
"rout" is spelled R-O-U-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹaʊt/.
What does "rout" mean?
As a noun, "rout" means: A group of people; a crowd, a throng, a troop; in particular (archaic), a group of people accompanying or travelling with someone.
What words are commonly confused with "rout"?
"rout" is commonly confused with "RT", "run", "row". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "rout"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "rout" is /ɹaʊt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "rout"?
The noun is derived from Middle English rout, route (“group of people associated with one another, company; entourage, retinue; army; group of soldiers; group of pirates; large number of people, crowd; throng; group of disreputable people, mob; ri... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rout", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Saab#25,915shiv#25,924Siam#25,926pane#25,874

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

pinot5 variantsTran5 variantsUConn5 variantsOSHA5 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list