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stick

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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Letters

5 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "stick", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "stick" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "stick" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

stick is aEnglishnoun. It means: An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton. Pronounced /stɪk/. It ranks #1,802 in English word frequency. Often confused with suck and stir.

Key facts for stick
PropertyValue
Headwordstick
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stɪk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,802
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of stick in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for stick is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /stɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,802 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 51 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for stick, with forms such as "sitck", "sstick", and "stcik". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "suck", "stir", "stig", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- Proto-Indo-European *stignéh₂- Proto-Germanic *stikkōną Proto-Germanic *stikkô Proto-West Germanic *stikkō Old English sticca Middle English stikke English stick From Middle English stikke (“stick, rod, twig”), f… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is stick, spelled S-T-I-C-K, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  2. 2
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  3. 3
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  4. 4
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  5. 5
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  6. 6
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  7. 7
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  8. 8
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  9. 9
    An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
  10. 10
    Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.
  11. 11
    Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.
  12. 12
    Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.
  13. 13
    Any roughly cylindrical (or rectangular) unit of a substance.
  14. 14
    Material or objects attached to a stick or the like.
  15. 15
    Material or objects attached to a stick or the like.
  16. 16
    Material or objects attached to a stick or the like.
  17. 17
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  18. 18
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  19. 19
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  20. 20
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  21. 21
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  22. 22
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  23. 23
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  24. 24
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  25. 25
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  26. 26
    A tool, control, or instrument shaped somewhat like a stick.
  27. 27
    A stick-like item:
  28. 28
    A stick-like item:
  29. 29
    A stick-like item:
  30. 30
    A stick-like item:
  31. 31
    A stick-like item:
  32. 32
    A stick-like item:
  33. 33
    Ability; specifically:
  34. 34
    Ability; specifically:
  35. 35
    Ability; specifically:
  36. 36
    Ability; specifically:
  37. 37
    A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)
  38. 38
    A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)
  39. 39
    A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)
  40. 40
    A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)
  41. 41
    A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)
  42. 42
    A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)
  43. 43
    A person or group of people. (Perhaps, in some senses, because people are, broadly speaking, tall and thin, like pieces of wood.)
  44. 44
    Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.
  45. 45
    Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.
  46. 46
    Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.
  47. 47
    Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.
  48. 48
    Encouragement or punishment, or (resulting) vigour or other improved behavior.
  49. 49
    A measure.
  50. 50
    A measure.
  51. 51
    Any of the eight 16-character groups making up the 128 characters of the 7-bit ASCII character set.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- Proto-Indo-European *stignéh₂- Proto-Germanic *stikkōną Proto-Germanic *stikkô Proto-West Germanic *stikkō Old English sticca Middle English stikke English stick From Middle English stikke (“stick, rod, twig”), from Old English sticca (“rod, twig”), from Proto-West Germanic *stikkō, from Proto-Germanic *stikkô (“stick, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Stikke (“stick”), West Flemish stik (“stick”), Dutch stek (“spot, place, home”), German Low German Stick (“stick”), German Stecken (“stick”), Danish and Norwegian stikke (“stick”), Swedish sticka (“splinter, needle”). Related to stigma.

Synonyms

sticktwig

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: sitck,sstick,stcik,sticck,stickk,stikc,sttick,tsick

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for stick

Misspelling Variants of "stick"

sitck5sstick6stcik5sticck6stickk6stikc5sttick6tsick5
Misspelling Variants of "stick"

Frequency rank: #1,802 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stick"?
"stick" is spelled S-T-I-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /stɪk/.
What does "stick" mean?
As a noun, "stick" means: An elongated piece of wood or similar material, typically put to some use, for example as a wand or baton.
What words are commonly confused with "stick"?
"stick" is commonly confused with "suck", "stir", "stig". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stick"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stick" is /stɪk/. 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 "stick"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- Proto-Indo-European *stignéh₂- Proto-Germanic *stikkōną Proto-Germanic *stikkô Proto-West Germanic *stikkō Old English sticca Middle English stikke English stick From Middle English stikke (“stick, rod,... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

All "S" wordsABCDEFGHIJKL

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.