scald
/skɔld/
"scald" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“scald” is an uncommon English word, ranked #78,107 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #78,107
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To burn with hot liquid.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | scald |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /skɔld/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #78,107 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “scald” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for scald is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /skɔld/. Corpus data places it at rank #78,107 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.
scald has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scalden, assumed to stem from Old Northern French escalder (compare central Old French eschauder, eschalder), from Late Latin excaldāre (“bathe in hot water”), from ex- (“off, out”) + cal(i)dus (“hot”). Cognate with Old Swedish skalda, s… The correct English form is scald, spelled S-C-A-L-D.
Definition
- 1To burn with hot liquid.
- 2To heat almost to boiling.
Etymology
From Middle English scalden, assumed to stem from Old Northern French escalder (compare central Old French eschauder, eschalder), from Late Latin excaldāre (“bathe in hot water”), from ex- (“off, out”) + cal(i)dus (“hot”). Cognate with Old Swedish skalda, skolda, skolla, skala, Swedish skålla, Danish skolde, Norwegian skålda, skaalda, Icelandic skálda. Also compare Old Norse skálda (“to rot, fall off, of hair”), to skalli (“baldness”), borrowed as Middle English scalle (“hair loss infektion, rash, blistering”), English scall.
This word in other languages
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 “scald”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-C-A-L-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /skɔld/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.