stump

/stʌmp/

//stʌmp// noun

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

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

The verdict

“stump” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,143. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,143
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The remains of something that has been cut off; especially the remains of a tree, the remains of a limb.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stump · stump · English

stump · rank #16,143 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,143
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stripper

Nearest frequency peer: stripper (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “stump”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “stump” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

stump vs sum
60% similar
stump vs sup
60% similar
stump vs sums
60% similar

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

Key facts for stump
PropertyValue
Headwordstump
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stʌmp/
Letters5
Frequency rank#16,143
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “stump” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).stumplands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “stripper” (#16,142), “strategically” (#16,141), “subordinate” (#16,145). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around stump (IPA /stʌmp/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,143 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for stump, with forms such as "sstump", "stmup", and "sttump". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sum", "sup", "sums", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English stumpe, stompe (“stump”), from or akin to Middle Low German stump (“stump”) or Middle Dutch stomp, from Old Saxon or Old Dutch *stump, from Proto-West Germanic *stump, from Proto-Germanic *stumpaz (“stump, blunt, part cut off”). Cognate … The correct English form is stump, spelled S-T-U-M-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    The remains of something that has been cut off; especially the remains of a tree, the remains of a limb.
  2. 2
    The place or occasion at which a campaign takes place; the husting.
  3. 3
    A place or occasion at which a person harangues or otherwise addresses a group in a manner suggesting political oration.
  4. 4
    One of three small wooden posts which together with the bails make the wicket and that the fielding team attempt to hit with the ball.
  5. 5
    An artists’ drawing tool made of rolled paper used to smudge or blend marks made with charcoal, Conté crayon, pencil or other drawing media.
  6. 6
    A wooden or concrete pole used to support a house.
  7. 7
    A leg.
  8. 8
    A pin in a tumbler lock which forms an obstruction to throwing the bolt except when the gates of the tumblers are properly arranged, as by the key.
  9. 9
    A pin or projection in a lock to form a guide for a movable piece.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Paul Muniment had taken hold of Hyacinth, and said, 'I'll trouble you to stay, you little desperado. I'll be blowed if I ever expected to see you on the stump!'
  2. to stir one's stumps

Etymology

From Middle English stumpe, stompe (“stump”), from or akin to Middle Low German stump (“stump”) or Middle Dutch stomp, from Old Saxon or Old Dutch *stump, from Proto-West Germanic *stump, from Proto-Germanic *stumpaz (“stump, blunt, part cut off”). Cognate with Middle Dutch stomp (“stump”), Old High German stumph (“stump”) (German Stumpf), Old Norse stumpr (“stump”). More at stop.

This word in other languages

tocón(Español)souche(Français)Stumpf(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sstump
  • stmup
  • sttump
  • stummp
  • stumpp
  • stupm
  • sutmp
  • tsump

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stump - 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.

sstump1stmup2sttump1stummp1stumpp1stupm2sutmp2tsump2
Edit distance from "stump"

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 "stump"?
"stump" is spelled S-T-U-M-P. The IPA pronunciation is /stʌmp/.
What does "stump" mean?
As a noun, "stump" means: The remains of something that has been cut off; especially the remains of a tree, the remains of a limb.
What words are commonly confused with "stump"?
"stump" is commonly confused with "sum", "sup", "sums". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stump"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stump" is /stʌmp/. 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 "stump"?
From Middle English stumpe, stompe (“stump”), from or akin to Middle Low German stump (“stump”) or Middle Dutch stomp, from Old Saxon or Old Dutch *stump, from Proto-West Germanic *stump, from Proto-Germanic *stumpaz (“stump, blunt, part cut off”)... 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 "stump", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

stout#16,140Sinai#16,130shaky#16,125Wally#16,163

Similar misspelling depth

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

uneasy8 variantsageing8 variantsaiding8 variantsbarring8 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "stump". Here's where to go from here.

  • "stump" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "sum". View pair
  • 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #16,143 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list