speed

/spiːd/

//spiːd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“speed” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,099. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,099
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion.

Corpus desk

Index EN-speed · speed · English

speed · rank #1,099 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,099
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sort

Nearest frequency peer: sort (-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 “speed”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “speed” 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).

speed vs sued
60% similar
speed vs spew
60% similar
speed vs spud
60% similar

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

Key facts for speed
PropertyValue
Headwordspeed
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/spiːd/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,099
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “speed”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).speedlands 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 “sort” (#1,098), “travel” (#1,100), “section” (#1,097). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “speed” is #1,099. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around speed (IPA /spiːd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,099 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for speed, with forms such as "pseed", "seped", and "spede". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sued", "spew", "spud", 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 sped (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōan, from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”… The correct English form is speed, spelled S-P-E-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion.
  2. 2
    The rate of motion or action, specifically the magnitude of the velocity; the rate distance is traversed in a given time.
  3. 3
    The sensitivity to light of film, plates or sensor.
  4. 4
    The duration of exposure, the time during which a camera shutter is open (shutter speed).
  5. 5
    The largest size of the lens opening at which a lens can be used.
  6. 6
    The ratio of the focal length to the diameter of a photographic objective.
  7. 7
    Amphetamine or any amphetamine-based drug (especially methamphetamine) used as a stimulant, especially illegally.
  8. 8
    Luck, success, prosperity.
  9. 9
    Personal preference.
  10. 10
    A third-order measure of derivative price sensitivity, expressed as the rate of change of gamma with respect to changes in the underlying asset price.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. How does Usain Bolt run at that speed?
  2. Returne with ſpeed, time paſſeth ſwift away, Our life is fraile, and we may dye to day.

Etymology

From Middle English sped (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōan, from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to prosper, succeed, be happy”), from Proto-Indo-European *speh₁- (“to prosper, turn out well”). Cognate with Scots spede, speid (“success, quickness, speed”), Dutch spoed (“haste; speed”), German Low German Spood (“haste; speed; eagerness; success”), German Sput (“progress, acceleration, haste”). Related also to Old English spōwan (“to be successful, succeed”), Albanian shpejt (“to speed, to hurry”) and Russian спеши́ть (spešítʹ, “to hurry”), Latin spēs (“hope, expectation”), spērō (“hope”, verb), perhaps also to Ancient Greek σπεύδω (speúdō, “to urge on, hasten, press on”).

Synonyms

speedvelocity

This word in other languages

rapidez(Español)vitesse(Français)Schnelligkeit(Deutsch)rapidez(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pseed
  • seped
  • spede
  • speedd
  • sppeed
  • sspeed

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of speed - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

pseed2seped2spede2speedd1sppeed1sspeed1
Edit distance from "speed"

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 "speed"?
"speed" is spelled S-P-E-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /spiːd/.
What does "speed" mean?
As a noun, "speed" means: The state of moving quickly or the capacity for rapid motion.
What words are commonly confused with "speed"?
"speed" is commonly confused with "sued", "spew", "spud". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "speed"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "speed" is /spiːd/. 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 "speed"?
From Middle English sped (“prosperity, good luck, quickness, success”), from Old English spēd (“success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōdi (“prosperity, success”), from Proto-West Germanic *spōan, from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to prosper, succeed,... 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 "speed", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Jesus#1,106miles#1,090loved#1,088focus#1,077

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

sort6 variantsdrop6 variantslink6 variantskept6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list