sew

/səʊ/

//səʊ// verb

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

"sew" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sew” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #16,124) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#16,124
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To use a needle to pass thread repeatedly through (pieces of fabric) in order to join them together.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sew · sew · English

sew · rank #16,124 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,124
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Semitism

Nearest frequency peer: Semitism (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “sew”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “sew” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sew vs so
33% similar
sew vs SI
0% similar
sew vs SS
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sew
PropertyValue
Headwordsew
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/səʊ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#16,124
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “sew”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).sewlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Semitism” (#16,123), “shaky” (#16,125), “secretariat” (#16,122). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sew” is #16,124. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for sew is neighbouring look-alikes ("so", "SI", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /səʊ/. Frequency #16,124 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

sew doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "so", "SI", "SS", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sewen, seowen, sowen, from Old English siwian, seowian, seowan (“to sew, mend, patch, knit together, link, unite”), from Proto-Germanic *siwjaną (“to sew”), from Proto-Indo-European *syewh₁- (“to sew”). Cognate with Scots sew, North Fris… The correct English form is sew, spelled S-E-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    To use a needle to pass thread repeatedly through (pieces of fabric) in order to join them together.
  2. 2
    To use a needle to pass thread repeatedly through pieces of fabric in order to join them together.
  3. 3
    Followed by into: to enclose by sewing.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Balls were first made of grass or leaves held together by strings, and later of pieces of animal skin sewn together and stuffed with feathers or hay.
  2. She [Kate Spade] took the label, which originally had been on the inside of the bag, and sewed it to the outside.

Etymology

From Middle English sewen, seowen, sowen, from Old English siwian, seowian, seowan (“to sew, mend, patch, knit together, link, unite”), from Proto-Germanic *siwjaną (“to sew”), from Proto-Indo-European *syewh₁- (“to sew”). Cognate with Scots sew, North Frisian saie, sei, Saterland Frisian säie, Danish sy, Swedish sy, and, more distantly, Polish szyć, Russian шить (šitʹ), Latin suō, Sanskrit सीव्यति (sī́vyati). Related to seam.

Synonyms

stitch

This word in other languages

coser(Español)coudre(Français)nähen(Deutsch)coser(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 "sew"?
"sew" is spelled S-E-W. The IPA pronunciation is /səʊ/.
What does "sew" mean?
As a verb, "sew" means: To use a needle to pass thread repeatedly through (pieces of fabric) in order to join them together.
What words are commonly confused with "sew"?
"sew" is commonly confused with "so", "SI", "SS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sew"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sew" is /səʊ/. 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 "sew"?
From Middle English sewen, seowen, sowen, from Old English siwian, seowian, seowan (“to sew, mend, patch, knit together, link, unite”), from Proto-Germanic *siwjaną (“to sew”), from Proto-Indo-European *syewh₁- (“to sew”). Cognate with Scots sew, ... 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 "sew", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

psi#16,099uhh#16,153USS#16,157wah#16,162

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list