set down

verb

"set-down" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“set down” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To write.

Corpus desk

Index EN-set-down · set down · English

set down · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for set down
PropertyValue
Headwordset down
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “set down” in English

set downranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

set down is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for set down, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is set down, spelled S-E-T- -D-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To write.
  2. 2
    To fix; to establish; to ordain.
  3. 3
    To place, especially on the ground or a surface; to cease carrying; to deposit; to allow passengers to alight.
  4. 4
    To land.
  5. 5
    To humiliate.
  6. 6
    To regard (someone) in a particular way; to put down as.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I set down this account so others may benefit from my experience.
  2. Some rules were to be set down for the government of the army.

Synonyms

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "set down"?
"set down" is spelled S-E-T- -D-O-W-N.
What does "set down" mean?
As a verb, "set down" means: To write.
What language does "set down" come from?
"set down" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list