sett

/sɛt/

//sɛt// noun

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

"sett" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sett” is uncommon English (frequency #69,438 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,438
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The system of tunnels that is the home of a badger.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sett · sett · English

sett · rank #69,438 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #69,438
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sextet

Nearest frequency peer: sextet (+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 “sett”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sett
PropertyValue
Headwordsett
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɛt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#69,438
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sett” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).settfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “sextet” (#69,439), “semicircle” (#69,436), “shabbos” (#69,440). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sett” is #69,438. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sett is uncommon English at frequency #69,438 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /sɛt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.

sett doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: A variant of set to distinguish various technical senses. The correct English form is sett, spelled S-E-T-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The system of tunnels that is the home of a badger.
  2. 2
    The pattern of distinctive threads and yarns that make up the plaid of a Scottish tartan.
  3. 3
    The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth.
  4. 4
    The number of reeds or splits per inch – one half the number of ends per inch.
  5. 5
    A small, square-cut piece of quarried stone used for paving and edging.
  6. 6
    A mine or set of mines on lease.
  7. 7
    A collection of pumps in a mine.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. But it is quite sad to reflect that some 4,500 badger setts were already wiped out using poisoned gas between 1975 and 1982. When you consider that an average sett can contain up to 15 animals, parents and cubs, it is easy to imagine the scale of suffering involved.
  2. The Vestiarium gave setts for Lowland houses as well as Highland clans[…]and many families within the clans have their own setts to add to the clan tartans.[…]The clans and families are branching out with Dress and Hunting tartans, and the same sett—any sett—may be produced in dark "modern," lighter "ancient" or "muted" color schemes.

Etymology

A variant of set to distinguish various technical senses.

This word in other languages

adoquín(Español)plaid(Français)Dachsbau(Deutsch)paralelepípedo(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 "sett"?
"sett" is spelled S-E-T-T. The IPA pronunciation is /sɛt/.
What does "sett" mean?
As a noun, "sett" means: The system of tunnels that is the home of a badger.
How do you pronounce "sett"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sett" is /sɛt/. 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 "sett"?
A variant of set to distinguish various technical senses. 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 "sett", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

stim#69,466Taku#69,489Reni#69,386Ramo#69,372

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list