serving
/ˈsɜːvɪŋ/
"serving" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“serving” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,405 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,405
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act or process of serving.
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 | serving |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɜːvɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #2,405 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “serving” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for serving is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɜːvɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,405 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for serving, with forms such as "esrving", "serivng", and "serrving". 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, "spring", "string", "sewing", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: By surface analysis, serve + -ing. The correct English form is serving, spelled S-E-R-V-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1The act or process of serving.
- 2An instance of that act or process.
- 3The quantity of food or drink intended for one person in a single sitting; especially in relation to a meal.
- 4A fraction or share.
- 5A layer added to the outside of an electrical cable to protect it.
Etymology
By surface analysis, serve + -ing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: esrving,serivng,serrving,servign,servingg,servinng,servnig,servving,sevring,sreving,sserving
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of serving - 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 “serving”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-R-V-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɜːvɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “spring” - see the side-by-side comparison. serving vs spring
- 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.