skip
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
4 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "skip", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "skip" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "skip" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
skip is aEnglishverb. It means: To move by hopping on alternate feet. Pronounced /skɪp/. It ranks #5,082 in English word frequency. Often confused with SP and sky.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | skip |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /skɪp/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #5,082 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for skip is 4 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /skɪp/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,082 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for skip, with forms such as "ksip", "sikp", and "skipp". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SP", "sky", "SNP", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English skippen, skyppen, of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skupjaną, perhaps related to *skeubaną (“to drive, push”), iterative *skuppōną (“to push/move repeatedly, skip”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ- (“to push, th… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is skip, spelled S-K-I-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To move by hopping on alternate feet.
- 2To leap about lightly.
- 3To skim, ricochet or bounce over a surface.
- 4To throw (something), making it skim, ricochet, or bounce over a surface.
- 5To disregard, miss or omit part of a continuation (some item or stage).
- 6Not to attend (some event, especially a class or a meeting).
- 7To leave, especially in a sudden and covert manner.
- 8To leap lightly over.
- 9To jump rope.
- 10To cause the stylus to jump back to the previous loop of the record's groove, continuously repeating that part of the sound, as a result of excessive scratching or wear. (of a phonograph record)
- 11To pass by a stitch as if it were not there, continuing with the next stitch.
- 12To have insufficient ink transfer.
Etymology
From Middle English skippen, skyppen, of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skupjaną, perhaps related to *skeubaną (“to drive, push”), iterative *skuppōną (“to push/move repeatedly, skip”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ- (“to push, throw, shake”). Related to Icelandic skopa (“to take a run”), Old Swedish skuppa (“to skip”), modern dialectal Swedish skopa, skimpa (“to skip, leap”), and English shove. See also dialectal English skimp (“to mock”) (Etymology 1), considered by some to be related.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ksip,sikp,skipp,skkip,skpi,sskip
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for skip
Misspelling Variants of "skip"
Frequency rank: #5,082 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index: