sage
/seɪd͡ʒ/
"sage" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sage” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,247. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #9,247
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Wise.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sage · sage · English
sage · rank #9,247 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #9,247
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH reset
Nearest frequency peer: reset (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “sage”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- reinforced
reinforced
90,757 corpus weight
- remedies
remedies
90,756 corpus weight
- reset
reset
90,755 corpus weight
- sage
sage
90,754 corpus weight
- shave
shave
90,753 corpus weight
- sickness
sickness
90,752 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “sage” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | sage |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /seɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #9,247 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sage” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around sage (IPA /seɪd͡ʒ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #9,247 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for sage, with forms such as "asge", "saeg", and "sagge". 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, "se", "SG", "she", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sage, from Old French sage (11th century), from Vulgar Latin *sapium, from Latin sapere (“to taste, to discern, to be wise”). The noun meaning "man of profound wisdom" is recorded from circa 1300. Originally applied to the Seven Sages of… The correct English form is sage, spelled S-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1Wise.
- 2Grave; serious; solemn.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sage appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Harry the fift is crownd, vp vanitie, / Downe royall ſtate, all you ſage counſailers, hence, / And to the Engliſh Court aſſemble now / From euery region, apes of idleneſſe: […]
Howbeit the Caledonians with great preparation, and by rumor, as of things unknown much greater, taking Armes, and of thir own accord begining Warr by the aſſault of ſundry Caſtles, ſent back ſome of thir fear to the Romans themſelves: and there were of the Commanders, who cloaking thir fear under ſhew of ſage advice, counſel’d the General to retreat back…
Etymology
From Middle English sage, from Old French sage (11th century), from Vulgar Latin *sapium, from Latin sapere (“to taste, to discern, to be wise”). The noun meaning "man of profound wisdom" is recorded from circa 1300. Originally applied to the Seven Sages of Greece.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- asge
- saeg
- sagge
- sgae
- ssage
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sage - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "sage"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sage", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
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.