spire

/spaɪə/

//spaɪə// noun

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

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

The verdict

“spire” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,217 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#25,217
frequency rank, English
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The stalk or stem of a plant.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

spire vs SPR
0% similar
spire vs sure
60% similar
spire vs stir
60% similar

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

Key facts for spire
PropertyValue
Headwordspire
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/spaɪə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#25,217
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “spire” 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). spire lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for spire is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /spaɪə/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,217 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for spire, with forms such as "psire", "sipre", and "spier". 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, "SPR", "sure", "stir", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic *spīrō, *spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, Swedish spi… The correct English form is spire, spelled S-P-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The stalk or stem of a plant.
  2. 2
    A young shoot of a plant; a spear.
  3. 3
    Any of various tall grasses, rushes, or sedges, such as the marram, the reed canary-grass, etc.
  4. 4
    A sharp or tapering point.
  5. 5
    A tapering structure built on a roof or tower, especially as one of the central architectural features of a church or cathedral roof.
  6. 6
    The top, or uppermost point, of anything; the summit.
  7. 7
    A tube or fuse for communicating fire to the charge in blasting.

Etymology

From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic *spīrō, *spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, Swedish spira, Icelandic spíra.

This word in other languages

chapitel(Español)flèche(Français)Turmspitze(Deutsch)agulha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: psire,sipre,spier,spirre,sppire,sprie,sspire

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spire - 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.

psire2sipre2spier2spirre1sppire1sprie2sspire1
Edit distance from "spire"

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 "spire"?
"spire" is spelled S-P-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /spaɪə/.
What does "spire" mean?
As a noun, "spire" means: The stalk or stem of a plant.
What words are commonly confused with "spire"?
"spire" is commonly confused with "SPR", "sure", "stir". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spire" is /spaɪə/. 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 "spire"?
From Middle English spire, spyre, spier, spir, from Old English spīr, from Proto-Germanic *spīrō, *spīrǭ (“peak; point; tip; stalk”). Cognate with Dutch spier, German Low German Spier, German Spier, Spiere, Danish spir, Norwegian spir and spire, S... 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.

Using “spire”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-P-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /spaɪə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “SPR” - see the side-by-side comparison. spire vs SPR
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list