spade

/speɪ̯d/

//speɪ̯d// noun

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

"spade" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spade” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,960. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,960
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spade · spade · English

spade · rank #18,960 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,960
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spoils

Nearest frequency peer: spoils (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “spade”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “spade” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

spade vs SPD
0% similar
spade vs span
60% similar
spade vs spam
60% similar

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

Key facts for spade
PropertyValue
Headwordspade
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/speɪ̯d/
Letters5
Frequency rank#18,960
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spade”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).spadelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “spoils” (#18,961), “Staffordshire” (#18,962), “smoky” (#18,957). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spade” is #18,960. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around spade (IPA /speɪ̯d/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #18,960 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for spade, with forms such as "psade", "sapde", and "spadde". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SPD", "span", "spam", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spade, from Old English spada, spade, spadu (“spade”), from Proto-Germanic *spadô. Doublet of spatha, spathe, and épée. The correct English form is spade, spelled S-P-A-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials.
  2. 2
    A cutting instrument used in flensing a whale.
  3. 3
    A device for terminating an electrical conductor resembling a small spade.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 'Make your mind easy,' Ratsey said; 'I have dug too often in this graveyard for any to wonder if they see me with a spade.'
  2. "[...] And not a single spade has gone in the ground - not a single mile of track built."

Etymology

From Middle English spade, from Old English spada, spade, spadu (“spade”), from Proto-Germanic *spadô. Doublet of spatha, spathe, and épée.

This word in other languages

pala(Español)bêche(Français)Spaten(Deutsch)pá(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psade
  • sapde
  • spadde
  • spaed
  • spdae
  • sppade
  • sspade

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spade - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

psade2sapde2spadde1spaed2spdae2sppade1sspade1
Edit distance from "spade"

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 "spade"?
"spade" is spelled S-P-A-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /speɪ̯d/.
What does "spade" mean?
As a noun, "spade" means: A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials.
What words are commonly confused with "spade"?
"spade" is commonly confused with "SPD", "span", "spam". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spade"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spade" is /speɪ̯d/. 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 "spade"?
From Middle English spade, from Old English spada, spade, spadu (“spade”), from Proto-Germanic *spadô. Doublet of spatha, spathe, and épée. 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 "spade", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

smoky#18,957shiva#18,952serie#18,950vowel#18,991

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Reilly7 variantsplaid7 variantsannoys7 variantsopioid7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list