SP

noun

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

"sp" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“SP” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #6,839) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#6,839
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Initialism of starting price.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sp · SP · English

SP · rank #6,839 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,839
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH socks

Nearest frequency peer: socks (-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 “SP”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “SP” 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).

SP vs SS
50% similar
SP vs su
0% similar
SP vs SW
50% similar

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

Key facts for SP
PropertyValue
HeadwordSP
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters2
Frequency rank#6,839
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “SP” 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).SPlands 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. Same rarity band neighbours include “socks” (#6,838), “shipped” (#6,837), “suited” (#6,841). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for SP is neighbouring look-alikes ("SS", "su", …), not just typos; it is anoun. Frequency #6,839 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 16 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Zero misspellings are on record for SP in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SS", "su", "SW", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is SP, spelled S-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of starting price.
  2. 2
    Initialism of selling price.
  3. 3
    Initialism of shore patrol.
  4. 4
    Initialism of state police.
  5. 5
    Initialism of slow play.
  6. 6
    Initialism of service pack.
  7. 7
    Initialism of skill point, special point, spirit point, or spell point; synonym of or alternative to MP/magic points, especially for games that lack magic or fantasy elements.
  8. 8
    Abbreviation of superintendent.
  9. 9
    Initialism of suppressive person.
  10. 10
    Initialism of substance P.
  11. 11
    Initialism of soft point.
  12. 12
    Initialism of state park.
  13. 13
    Abbreviation of spur.
  14. 14
    Initialism of short program.
  15. 15
    Initialism of sex partner.
  16. 16
    Abbreviation of sub-publishing.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He was an atheist, a rationalist, a medical student of no great distinction, an SP punter, a singer of bawdy songs, an acknowledged expert in matters erotic.
  2. It was the last time, too, when […] the races dominated the radio on Saturday afternoons and everyone had the number of an SP bookie.

Synonyms

supt.

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

How do you spell "SP"?
"SP" is spelled S-P.
What does "SP" mean?
As a noun, "SP" means: Initialism of starting price.
What words are commonly confused with "SP"?
"SP" is commonly confused with "SS", "su", "SW". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "SP" come from?
"SP" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

What to do next

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

  • "SP" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "SS". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #6,839 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