skald
/skɔːld/
"skald" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“skald” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A Nordic poet of the Viking Age.
Corpus desk
Index EN-skald · skald · English
skald · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | skald |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /skɔːld/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “skald” in English
Rare enough to double-check
skald is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /skɔːld/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A Nordic poet of the Viking Age.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for skald, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old Norse skald. Doublet of scold. The correct English form is skald, spelled S-K-A-L-D.
Definition
- 1A Nordic poet of the Viking Age.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how skald appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The fire was spreading rapidly through all parts of the castle, when Ulrica, who had first kindled it, appeared on a turret, in the guise of one of the ancient furies, yelling forth a war-song, such as was of yore chaunted on the field of battle by the scalds of the yet heathen Saxons.
Command Egil the Skald to stand forth and stir our viking blood with his songs of thee.
Etymology
From Old Norse skald. Doublet of scold.
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.