stour

/ˈstɔː/

//ˈstɔː// adj

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

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

The verdict

“stour” is uncommon English (frequency #75,451 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#75,451
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tall; big; stout.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stour · stour · English

stour · rank #75,451 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #75,451
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stoping

Nearest frequency peer: stoping (-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 “stour”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “stour” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for stour
PropertyValue
Headwordstour
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈstɔː/
Letters5
Frequency rank#75,451
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stour” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).stourfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “stoping” (#75,450), “Stourbridge” (#75,452), “strictness” (#75,453). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stour” is #75,451. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stour is uncommon English at frequency #75,451 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈstɔː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for stour in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *stō-r- (“ste… The correct English form is stour, spelled S-T-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tall; big; stout.
  2. 2
    Strong; powerful; hardy; robust; sturdy.
  3. 3
    Bold; audacious.
  4. 4
    Rough in manner; stern; austere; ill-tempered.
  5. 5
    Rough; hoarse; deep-toned; harsh.
  6. 6
    Inflexible, stiff.
  7. 7
    Resolute; unyielding.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. A fenny gooſe, even as her fleſhe is blacker, ſtoorer, unholſomer, ſo is her feather, for the ſame cauſe, courſer, ſtoorer, and rougher, and therefore I have heard very good fletchers ſay, that the ſecond fether in ſome place is better than the pinion in other ſome.

Etymology

From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *stō-r- (“steadfast, firm; standing tall; big, bulky”). Cognates Akin to Scots stour (“tall, large, great, stout”), Saterland Frisian stor (“great, many”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian stor (“large, great”), Icelandic stórr (“large, tall”), Polish stary (“old, ancient”), Albanian stër- (“big, huge”). Compare also stoor, steer, stately.

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 "stour"?
"stour" is spelled S-T-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstɔː/.
What does "stour" mean?
As an adjective, "stour" means: Tall; big; stout.
How do you pronounce "stour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stour" is /ˈstɔː/. 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 "stour"?
From Middle English store, stoor, stour (“tall, powerful”), from Old English stōr (“tall, great, mighty, strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōr, from Proto-Germanic *stōraz, *stōrijaz (“great, big, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *stā-r-, *st... 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 "stour", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Swope#75,465Takao#75,468Tanna#75,469techy#75,474

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list