ski
/skiː/
"ski" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ski” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,840 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,840
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One of a pair of long flat runners designed for gliding over snow or water.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ski |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /skiː/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #5,840 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ski” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ski is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /skiː/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,840 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for ski, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "so", "SS", "SP", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Norwegian ski, from Old Norse skíð (“stick of wood, snowshoe”), from Proto-Germanic *skīdą (“stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split”) (see also shed). Cognate with Old English sċīd (“stick of wood”) (modern shide), Old High German ski… The correct English form is ski, spelled S-K-I.
Definition
- 1One of a pair of long flat runners designed for gliding over snow or water.
- 2One of a pair of long flat runners under some flying machines, used for landing.
- 3A trip made by skiing.
Etymology
From Norwegian ski, from Old Norse skíð (“stick of wood, snowshoe”), from Proto-Germanic *skīdą (“stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split”) (see also shed). Cognate with Old English sċīd (“stick of wood”) (modern shide), Old High German skit (Modern German Scheit (“log”)).
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 “ski”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-K-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /skiː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “so” - see the side-by-side comparison. ski vs so
- 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.