souse
/saʊs/
"souse" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“souse” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Something kept or steeped in brine.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | souse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /saʊs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “souse” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for souse is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /saʊs/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for souse, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English souse (“to salt pickle”) also a noun (“liquid for pickling,” “pickled pig parts”), from Old French sous (“preserved in salt”), from Frankish *sultija (“saltwater, brine”), from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“saltwater, brine”). Cognate with O… The correct English form is souse, spelled S-O-U-S-E.
Definition
- 1Something kept or steeped in brine.
- 2Something kept or steeped in brine.
- 3Something kept or steeped in brine.
- 4Something kept or steeped in brine.
- 5Something kept or steeped in brine.
- 6The act of sousing; a plunging into water.
- 7A drunkard.
Etymology
From Middle English souse (“to salt pickle”) also a noun (“liquid for pickling,” “pickled pig parts”), from Old French sous (“preserved in salt”), from Frankish *sultija (“saltwater, brine”), from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“saltwater, brine”). Cognate with Old Saxon sultia (“saltwater”), Old High German sulza (“brine”).
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “souse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-O-U-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /saʊs/ (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.