sow

/saʊ/

//saʊ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sow" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sow” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #17,722) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#17,722
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female pig.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sow · sow · English

sow · rank #17,722 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,722
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH slime

Nearest frequency peer: slime (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “sow”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “sow” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sow vs SS
0% similar
sow vs SP
0% similar
sow vs su
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sow
PropertyValue
Headwordsow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/saʊ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#17,722
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sow” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).sow lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for sow is neighbouring look-alikes ("SS", "SP", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /saʊ/. Frequency #17,722 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 8 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for sow in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SS", "SP", "su", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-West Germanic *sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugō, probably from Proto-Indo-European *su(H)kéh₂, from *suH- (“pig”). See also West Frisian sûch, Dutch zeug, Low German Söög, German Sau, Swedish sugga,… The correct English form is sow, spelled S-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female pig.
  2. 2
    A female bear, she-bear.
  3. 3
    A female guinea pig.
  4. 4
    A channel that conducts molten metal to molds.
  5. 5
    A mass of metal solidified in a mold.
  6. 6
    A contemptible, often fat woman.
  7. 7
    A sowbug.
  8. 8
    A kind of covered shed, formerly used by besiegers in filling up and passing the ditch of a besieged place, sapping and mining the wall, etc.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Lucky he wasn't a sow. They've usually just dropped a cub this time of year. A sow would have been cranky as hell.
  2. In England, it was generally termed a 'sow', if the weight was above 10 cwts., if below, it was termed a 'pig' from which the present term 'pig iron' is derived.

Etymology

From Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-West Germanic *sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugō, probably from Proto-Indo-European *su(H)kéh₂, from *suH- (“pig”). See also West Frisian sûch, Dutch zeug, Low German Söög, German Sau, Swedish sugga, Norwegian sugge; also Welsh hwch (“pig”), Sanskrit सूकर (sūkará, “swine, boar”); also Danish so, German Sau, Latin sūs, Tocharian B suwo, Ancient Greek ὗς (hûs), Albanian thi, Avestan 𐬵𐬏 (hū, “boar”). See also swine. Doublet of soor.

Synonyms

ingotbitchcow

This word in other languages

cerda(Español)truie(Français)Sau(Deutsch)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sow"?
"sow" is spelled S-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /saʊ/.
What does "sow" mean?
As a noun, "sow" means: A female pig.
What words are commonly confused with "sow"?
"sow" is commonly confused with "SS", "SP", "su". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sow" is /saʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sow"?
From Middle English sowe, from Old English sugu, from Proto-West Germanic *sugu, from Proto-Germanic *sugō, probably from Proto-Indo-European *su(H)kéh₂, from *suH- (“pig”). See also West Frisian sûch, Dutch zeug, Low German Söög, German Sau, Swed... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

SQL#17,725zac#17,748ACL#17,750als#17,755

What to do next

You've looked up "sow". Here's where to go from here.

  • "sow" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "SS". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #17,722 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list