sedge

/sɛd͡ʒ/

//sɛd͡ʒ// noun

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

"sedge" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sedge” is uncommon English (frequency #60,451 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,451
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any plant of the family Cyperaceae.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sedge · sedge · English

sedge · rank #60,451 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,451
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH seashell

Nearest frequency peer: seashell (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “sedge”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “sedge” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sedge
PropertyValue
Headwordsedge
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɛd͡ʒ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#60,451
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sedge” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).sedgefalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “seashell” (#60,450), “sensitization” (#60,452), “scratcher” (#60,448). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sedge” is #60,451. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sedge is uncommon English at frequency #60,451 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /sɛd͡ʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for sedge in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *sagjaz Proto-West Germanic *sagi Old English seċġ Middle English segge English sedge From Middle English segge, from Old English seċġ, from Proto-West Germanic *sagi, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sak-… The correct English form is sedge, spelled S-E-D-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any plant of the family Cyperaceae.
  2. 2
    Any plant of the family Cyperaceae.
  3. 3
    Any of various other plants resembling true sedges, such as Gentiana rubricaulis and Andropogon virginicus.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. But when the moon rose and the breeze awakened, and the sedges stirred, and the cat's-paws raced across the moonlit ponds, and the far surf off Wonder Head intoned the hymn of the four winds, the trinity, earth and sky and water, became one thunderous symphony—a harmony of sound and colour silvered to a monochrome by the moon.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *sagjaz Proto-West Germanic *sagi Old English seċġ Middle English segge English sedge From Middle English segge, from Old English seċġ, from Proto-West Germanic *sagi, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sak- (“marsh plant”). Cognate with Dutch zegge and German Segge, dialectal German Saher (“reeds”).

This word in other languages

carrizo(Español)laîche(Français)Segge(Deutsch)carriço(Português)

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 "sedge"?
"sedge" is spelled S-E-D-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sɛd͡ʒ/.
What does "sedge" mean?
As a noun, "sedge" means: Any plant of the family Cyperaceae.
How do you pronounce "sedge"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sedge" is /sɛd͡ʒ/. 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 "sedge"?
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *sagjaz Proto-West Germanic *sagi Old English seċġ Middle English segge English sedge From Middle English segge, from Old English seċġ, from Proto-West Germanic *sagi, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaz, from Proto-Indo-Euro... 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 "sedge", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Shima#60,462Runic#60,436smoot#60,476Staal#60,483

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list