sinew
/ˈsɪnjuː/
"sinew" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sinew” is an uncommon English word, ranked #64,711 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #64,711
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A cord or tendon of the body.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sinew |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɪnjuː/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #64,711 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sinew” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sinew is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɪnjuː/. Corpus data places it at rank #64,711 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for sinew in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English synwe, synewe (“tendon; ligament or other connective tissue; muscle; nerve; leaf vein”), from Old English sinu (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), from Proto-West Germanic *sinu, from Proto-Germanic *sinwō, *senawō (“sinew”), from Proto-Indo-Europ… The correct English form is sinew, spelled S-I-N-E-W.
Definition
- 1A cord or tendon of the body.
- 2A cord or string, particularly (music) as of a musical instrument.
- 3Muscular power, muscle; nerve, nervous energy; vigor, vigorous strength.
- 4That which gives strength or in which strength consists; a supporting factor or member; mainstay.
- 5A nerve.
Etymology
From Middle English synwe, synewe (“tendon; ligament or other connective tissue; muscle; nerve; leaf vein”), from Old English sinu (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), from Proto-West Germanic *sinu, from Proto-Germanic *sinwō, *senawō (“sinew”), from Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ (“sinew, tendon”), from *(s)neh₁- (“to twist (threads), spin, weave”). The word is cognate with sinnow (“sinew”), Scots senon, sinnon, Saterland Frisian Siene (“sinew”), West Frisian senuw, sine (“sinew; nerve”), Dutch zenuw (“nerve, sinew”), German Sehne (“tendon, sinew; cord”), Icelandic sin (“tendon”), Swedish sena (“sinew”), Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬁𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭 (snāuuar, “tendon, sinew”), Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “tendon; nerve; cord”), Latin nervus (“tendon, sinew; nerve”), Sanskrit स्नावन् (snāván, “sinew, tendon; muscle”), Tocharian B ṣñor (“sinew”). Doublet of nerve and neuron.
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); 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 “sinew”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-I-N-E-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɪnjuː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.