ship

Name: ship, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ʃɪp/

//ʃɪp// noun

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“ship” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,254 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,254
frequency rank, English: 4
letters: 6
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A water-borne vessel generally larger than a boat.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ship vs SI

0% similar

ship vs SP

0% similar

ship vs six

50% similar

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

Key facts for ship
Property	Value
Headword	ship
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ʃɪp/
Letters	4
Frequency rank	#1,254
Misspellings tracked	6
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ship” sits in English frequency

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

#1,254

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for ship is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃɪp/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,254 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for ship, with forms such as "hsip", "shhip", and "shipp". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SI", "SP", "six", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-? Proto-Indo-European *-éyti Proto-Indo-European *skey-der.? Proto-Germanic *skipą Proto-West Germanic *skip Old English scip Middle English schip English ship From Middle English ship, schip, from Old English sċip, f… The correct English form is ship, spelled S-H-I-P.

Definition

1
A water-borne vessel generally larger than a boat.
2
A vessel which travels through any medium other than across land, such as an airship or spaceship.
3
A spaceship.
4
A particular still life consisting of an empty cell surrounded by six live cells.
5
A sailing vessel with three or more square-rigged masts.
6
A dish or utensil (originally fashioned like the hull of a ship) used to hold incense.
7
The third card of the Lenormand deck.
8
An aircraft.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-? Proto-Indo-European *-éyti Proto-Indo-European *skey-der.? Proto-Germanic *skipą Proto-West Germanic *skip Old English scip Middle English schip English ship From Middle English ship, schip, from Old English sċip, from Proto-West Germanic *skip, from Proto-Germanic *skipą, from Proto-Indo-European *skēyb-, *skib-. More at shift. Cognates Cognate with West Frisian skip, Dutch schip, German Schiff, Yiddish שיף (shif), Danish skib, Norwegian skip, Swedish skepp. Related also to Lithuanian skiẽbti (“to rip up”), Latvian škibît (“to cut, lop”). Compare typologically boat, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd-.

This word in other languages

barco(Español)vaisseau(Français)Schiff(Deutsch)navio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hsip,shhip,shipp,shpi,sihp,sship

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ship - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "ship"

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 "ship"?

"ship" is spelled S-H-I-P. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃɪp/.

What does "ship" mean?

As a noun, "ship" means: A water-borne vessel generally larger than a boat.

What words are commonly confused with "ship"?

"ship" is commonly confused with "SI", "SP", "six". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "ship"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ship" is /ʃɪp/. 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 "ship"?

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.

Using “ship”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is S-H-I-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ʃɪp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Don't mix it up with “SI” - see the side-by-side comparison. ship vs SI
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.