# stow

> English word · Noun · IPA /stoʊ/ · frequency rank #26,977

## Definitions
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.

## Easily confused with
- **SW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-sw)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-str)
- **STS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-sts)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-stu)
- **STP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-stp)
- **stud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-stud)
- **stun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-stun)
- **stub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-stub)
- **SXSW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-sxsw)
- **swot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-swot)
- **Styx** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-styx)
- **straw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-straw)
- **Stowe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-stowe)
- **stowed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stow-vs-stowed)
- **so** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/so-vs-stow)
- **saw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/saw-vs-stow)
- **son** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/son-vs-stow)
- **SEO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seo-vs-stow)
- **sox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sox-vs-stow)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sol-vs-stow)

## Common misspellings (6)
`sotw`, `sstow`, `stoww`, `sttow`, `stwo`, `tsow`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/stow