stork

/stɔɹk/

//stɔɹk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“stork” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,860. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,860
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A large wading bird with long legs and a long beak of the order Ciconiiformes and its family Ciconiidae.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stork · stork · English

stork · rank #33,860 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,860
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH statesmen

Nearest frequency peer: statesmen (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “stork”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “stork” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

stork vs STR
0% similar
stork vs stow
60% similar
stork vs story
80% similar

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

Key facts for stork
PropertyValue
Headwordstork
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stɔɹk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#33,860
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “stork”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).storklands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “statesmen” (#33,859), “strode” (#33,861), “strongman” (#33,862). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stork” is #33,860. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around stork (IPA /stɔɹk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #33,860 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for stork, with forms such as "sotrk", "sstork", and "stokr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "STR", "stow", "story", 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 stork, from Old English storc, from Proto-West Germanic *stork, from Proto-Germanic *sturkaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sr̥ǵos (“stork”). Near cognates include Dutch stork, German Storch, Swedish stork, and Icelandic storkur. Compare als… The correct English form is stork, spelled S-T-O-R-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A large wading bird with long legs and a long beak of the order Ciconiiformes and its family Ciconiidae.
  2. 2
    The mythical bringer of babies to families, or good news.
  3. 3
    The seventeenth Lenormand card.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how stork appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. My sister's expecting a visit from the stork.

Etymology

From Middle English stork, from Old English storc, from Proto-West Germanic *stork, from Proto-Germanic *sturkaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sr̥ǵos (“stork”). Near cognates include Dutch stork, German Storch, Swedish stork, and Icelandic storkur. Compare also Latvian stārķis (“stork”), borrowed from Germanic.

This word in other languages

cigüeña(Español)cigogne(Français)Storch(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sotrk
  • sstork
  • stokr
  • storkk
  • storrk
  • strok
  • sttork
  • tsork

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stork - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

sotrk2sstork1stokr2storkk1storrk1strok2sttork1tsork2
Edit distance from "stork"

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 "stork"?
"stork" is spelled S-T-O-R-K. The IPA pronunciation is /stɔɹk/.
What does "stork" mean?
As a noun, "stork" means: A large wading bird with long legs and a long beak of the order Ciconiiformes and its family Ciconiidae.
What words are commonly confused with "stork"?
"stork" is commonly confused with "STR", "stow", "story". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stork"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stork" is /stɔɹk/. 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 "stork"?
From Middle English stork, from Old English storc, from Proto-West Germanic *stork, from Proto-Germanic *sturkaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sr̥ǵos (“stork”). Near cognates include Dutch stork, German Storch, Swedish stork, and Icelandic storkur. C... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "stork", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

spook#33,857slits#33,852swoon#33,870shiro#33,844

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

soulless8 variantsshrill8 variantsseared8 variantssalami8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list