spider

/ˈspaɪ̯də/

//ˈspaɪ̯də// noun

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

"spider" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spider” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,715. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,715
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spider · spider · English

spider · rank #4,715 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,715
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sooner

Nearest frequency peer: sooner (-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 “spider”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spider” 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).

spider vs spite
67% similar
spider vs spike
67% similar
spider vs spine
67% similar

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

Key facts for spider
PropertyValue
Headwordspider
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈspaɪ̯də/
Letters6
Frequency rank#4,715
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spider”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).spiderlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “sooner” (#4,714), “Stewart” (#4,716), “signature” (#4,713). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spider” is #4,715. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around spider (IPA /ˈspaɪ̯də/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,715 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 20 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for spider, with forms such as "psider", "sipder", and "spdier". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "spite", "spike", "spine", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spiþre, spydyr, spider, spiþer, from Old English spīþra (“spider”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”). Mostly displaced attercop (“spider, unpleasant person”), now a dialectal term. Compare ty… The correct English form is spider, spelled S-P-I-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
  2. 2
    A program which follows links on the World Wide Web in order to gather information.
  3. 3
    A float (drink) made by mixing ice-cream and a soda or fizzy drink (such as lemonade).
  4. 4
    An alcoholic drink made with brandy and lemonade or ginger beer.
  5. 5
    A spindly person.
  6. 6
    A man who persistently approaches or accosts a woman in a public social setting, particularly in a bar.
  7. 7
    A stick with a convex arch-shaped notched head used to support the cue when the cue ball is out of reach at normal extension.
  8. 8
    A cast-iron frying pan with three legs, once common in open-hearth cookery.
  9. 9
    Implement for moving food in and out of hot oil for deep frying, with a circular metal mesh attached to a long handle; a spider skimmer
  10. 10
    A part of a crank, to which the chainrings are attached.
  11. 11
    Heroin.
  12. 12
    Part of a resonator instrument that transmits string vibrations from the bridge to a resonator cone at multiple points.
  13. 13
    A skeleton or frame with radiating arms or members, often connected by crosspieces, such as a casting forming the hub and spokes to which the rim of a fly wheel or large gear is bolted; the body of a piston head; or a frame for strengthening a core or mould for a casting.
  14. 14
    A soft-hackle fly.
  15. 15
    The network of wires separating the areas of a dartboard.
  16. 16
    A spider graph or spider tree.
  17. 17
    A type of light phaeton.
  18. 18
    A support for a camera tripod, preventing it from sliding.
  19. 19
    A competition in which several participants are spread evenly around the edges of the green, who all make one bowl towards the central jack at the same time; the winner being the person whose bowl ends up closest to the jack.
  20. 20
    A bit for turning fasteners with 8-pointed heads.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Little Miss Muffet, She sat on a tuffet, Eating of curds and whey; There came a little spider, Who sat down beside her, And frighted Miss Muffet away.
  2. Crawler-based search engines have three major elements. The first is the spider, also called the crawler, which visits a web page, reads it, and then follows links to other pages within the site.

Etymology

From Middle English spiþre, spydyr, spider, spiþer, from Old English spīþra (“spider”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”). Mostly displaced attercop (“spider, unpleasant person”), now a dialectal term. Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *mězgyrь (whence Russian мизги́рь (mizgírʹ)) (akin to Latvian mežģīt), Turkish örümcek (akin to örmek).

This word in other languages

araña(Español)araignée(Français)Spinne(Deutsch)aranha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psider
  • sipder
  • spdier
  • spidder
  • spiderr
  • spidre
  • spiedr
  • sppider
  • sspider

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spider - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

psider2sipder2spdier2spidder1spiderr1spidre2spiedr2sppider1
Edit distance from "spider"

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 "spider"?
"spider" is spelled S-P-I-D-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈspaɪ̯də/.
What does "spider" mean?
As a noun, "spider" means: Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
What words are commonly confused with "spider"?
"spider" is commonly confused with "spite", "spike", "spine". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spider"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spider" is /ˈspaɪ̯də/. 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 "spider"?
From Middle English spiþre, spydyr, spider, spiþer, from Old English spīþra (“spider”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”). Mostly displaced attercop (“spider, unpleasant person”), now a dialectal term. ... 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 "spider", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sooner#4,714racism#4,703quotes#4,702wheels#4,728

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

trigger9 variantspowder9 variantsoxygen9 variantsAlbert9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list