stang
/ˈstæŋ/
"stang" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stang” is uncommon English (frequency #64,733 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #64,733
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A forked ritual staff.
Corpus desk
Index EN-stang · stang · English
stang · rank #64,733 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #64,733
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH Stanislav
Nearest frequency peer: Stanislav (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “stang”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- sportive
sportive
35,272 corpus weight
- Srivastava
Srivastava
35,270 corpus weight
- stang
stang
35,268 corpus weight
- Stanislav
Stanislav
35,267 corpus weight
- Starke
Starke
35,266 corpus weight
- Stauffer
Stauffer
35,264 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “stang” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | stang |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈstæŋ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #64,733 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “stang” in English
Rare enough to double-check
stang is uncommon English at frequency #64,733 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈstæŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
stang doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English stang, stong, from Old Norse stǫng, from Proto-Germanic *stangiz, *stangō (“bar, rod”), from Proto-Indo-European *stengʰ-, *stegʰ- (“to stick, sting, prick, be stiff”). The correct English form is stang, spelled S-T-A-N-G.
Definition
- 1A forked ritual staff.
- 2A long bar; a pole; a shaft; a stake.
- 3In land measure, a pole, rod, or perch.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how stang appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The stang represents the horned god and the masculine force of nature. Much like the wand or athame, the stang is used for raising or directing power[…]
In more common (and private) Wiccan circles, the stang is replaced by the athame (black handled knife) and the cauldron replaced with the chalice but its^([sic]) pretty much /whatever works for you/.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English stang, stong, from Old Norse stǫng, from Proto-Germanic *stangiz, *stangō (“bar, rod”), from Proto-Indo-European *stengʰ-, *stegʰ- (“to stick, sting, prick, be stiff”).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "stang", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).