spread
/spɹɛd/
"spread" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spread” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,650 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #1,650
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spread |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /spɹɛd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,650 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “spread” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for spread is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /spɹɛd/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,650 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for spread, with forms such as "psread", "sperad", and "sppread". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "spree", "stead", "stream", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), West Frisian sp… The correct English form is spread, spelled S-P-R-E-A-D.
Definition
- 1To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space.
- 2To extend (individual rays, limbs etc.); to stretch out in varying or opposing directions. simple past and past participle of spread
- 3To disperse, to scatter or distribute over a given area.
- 4To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated.
- 5To disseminate; to cause to proliferate, to make (something) widely known or present.
- 6To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended.
- 7To smear, to distribute in a thin layer.
- 8To cover (something) with a thin layer of some substance, as of butter.
- 9To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions.
- 10To open one’s legs, especially for sexual favours.
Etymology
From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), West Frisian spriede (“to spread”), North Frisian spriedjen (“to spread”), Dutch spreiden (“to spread”), Low German spreden (“to spread”), German spreiten (“to spread, spread out”), Danish sprede (“to spread”), Norwegian spre, spreie (“to spread, disseminate”), Swedish sprida (“to spread”), Latin spernō, spargō, Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō), Persian سپردن (sepordan, “to deposit”), English spurn.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: psread,sperad,sppread,spraed,spreadd,spreda,sprread,srpead,sspread
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of spread - 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.
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
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Using “spread”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-R-E-A-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /spɹɛd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “spree” - see the side-by-side comparison. spread vs spree
- 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.