stow

/stoʊ/

//stoʊ// noun

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

"stow" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stow” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,977. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,977
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A place, stead.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stow · stow · English

stow · rank #26,977 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #26,977
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stimulant

Nearest frequency peer: stimulant (-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 “stow”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “stow” 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).

stow vs SW
0% similar
stow vs STR
0% similar
stow vs STS
0% similar

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

Key facts for stow
PropertyValue
Headwordstow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stoʊ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#26,977
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “stow”

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).stowlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “stimulant” (#26,976), “Strickland” (#26,978), “stylized” (#26,979). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stow” is #26,977. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around stow (IPA /stoʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #26,977 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A place, stead.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for stow, with forms such as "sotw", "sstow", and "stoww". 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, "SW", "STR", "STS", 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 stowe, from Old English stōw (“place, location”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōu, from Proto-Germanic *stōō (“a place, stowage”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, place, put”). Cognate with Old Frisian stō (“place”), Icelandi… The correct English form is stow, spelled S-T-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    A place, stead.

Etymology

From Middle English stowe, from Old English stōw (“place, location”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōu, from Proto-Germanic *stōō (“a place, stowage”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, place, put”). Cognate with Old Frisian stō (“place”), Icelandic stó (“fireplace”), Dutch stouw (“place”), German Stau (“congestion”). See also -stow.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sotw
  • sstow
  • stoww
  • sttow
  • stwo
  • tsow

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stow - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

sotw2sstow1stoww1sttow1stwo2tsow2
Edit distance from "stow"

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 "stow"?
"stow" is spelled S-T-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /stoʊ/.
What does "stow" mean?
As a noun, "stow" means: A place, stead.
What words are commonly confused with "stow"?
"stow" is commonly confused with "SW", "STR", "STS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stow" is /stoʊ/. 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 "stow"?
From Middle English stowe, from Old English stōw (“place, location”), from Proto-West Germanic *stōu, from Proto-Germanic *stōō (“a place, stowage”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand, place, put”). Cognate with Old Frisian stō (“place”)... 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 "stow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

spar#26,972sumo#26,985SATA#26,954sari#26,953

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

tres6 variantstris6 variantsUSGS6 variantswhos6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list