stamp
/stæmp/
"stamp" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stamp” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,012 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,012
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An act of stamping the foot, paw or hoof.
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 | stamp |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /stæmp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #6,012 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “stamp” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for stamp is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /stæmp/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,012 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for stamp, with forms such as "satmp", "sstamp", and "stammp". 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, "STM", "STP", "stop", 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 stampen (“to pound, crush”), from assumed Old English *stampian, variant of Old English stempan (“to crush, pound, pound in mortar, stamp”), from Proto-West Germanic *stampōn, *stampijan, from Proto-Germanic *stampōną, *stampijaną (“to t… The correct English form is stamp, spelled S-T-A-M-P.
Definition
- 1An act of stamping the foot, paw or hoof.
- 2An indentation, imprint, or mark made by stamping.
- 3A device for imprinting designs.
- 4A small piece of paper, with a design and a face value, used to prepay postage or other dues such as tax or licence fees.
- 5A small piece of paper bearing a design on one side and adhesive on the other, used to decorate letters or craft work.
- 6A tattoo.
- 7A single dose of lysergic acid diethylamide.
- 8A kind of heavy pestle, raised by water or steam power, for crushing ores.
- 9Cast; form; character; distinguishing mark or sign; evidence.
Etymology
From Middle English stampen (“to pound, crush”), from assumed Old English *stampian, variant of Old English stempan (“to crush, pound, pound in mortar, stamp”), from Proto-West Germanic *stampōn, *stampijan, from Proto-Germanic *stampōną, *stampijaną (“to trample, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *stemb- (“to trample down”). Cognate with Dutch stampen (“to stamp, pitch”), German stampfen (“to stamp”), Danish stampe (“to stamp”), Swedish stampa (“to stomp”), Occitan estampar, Polish stąpać (“to step, treat”). See also stomp, step. Marks indicating that postage had been paid were originally made by stamping the item to be mailed; when affixed pieces of paper were introduced for this purpose, the term “stamp” was transferred to cover this new form.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: satmp,sstamp,stammp,stampp,stapm,stmap,sttamp,tsamp
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stamp - 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
How do you spell "stamp"?
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Using “stamp”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-A-M-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /stæmp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “STM” - see the side-by-side comparison. stamp vs STM
- 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.