swath
/swɒθ/
"swath" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“swath” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #35,974. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #35,974
- 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 track cut out by a scythe in mowing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-swath · swath · English
swath · rank #35,974 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #35,974
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH swordsman
Nearest frequency peer: swordsman (+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 “swath”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- swab
swab
64,029 corpus weight
- swath
swath
64,027 corpus weight
- swordsman
swordsman
64,026 corpus weight
- synapses
synapses
64,025 corpus weight
- tattered
tattered
64,023 corpus weight
- technicality
technicality
64,022 corpus weight
What this shows “swath” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | swath |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /swɒθ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #35,974 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “swath”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around swath (IPA /swɒθ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #35,974 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for swath, with forms such as "sawth", "sswath", and "swaht". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sway", "swot", "sweat", 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 swath, swathe, from Old English swæþ, swaþu (“track; trace; footstep”), from Proto-Germanic *swaþō (“a wind-swept place; open field”), of unknown further origin. Has been derived from a Proto-Indo-European *swey- (“to bend, turn, swing”)… The correct English form is swath, spelled S-W-A-T-H.
Definition
- 1The track cut out by a scythe in mowing.
- 2A broad sweep or expanse, such as of land or of people.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how swath appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A large swath of the population is opposed to this government policy.
Five days after Hurricane Katrina, large swaths of New Orleans are still submerged in water.
Etymology
From Middle English swath, swathe, from Old English swæþ, swaþu (“track; trace; footstep”), from Proto-Germanic *swaþō (“a wind-swept place; open field”), of unknown further origin. Has been derived from a Proto-Indo-European *swey- (“to bend, turn, swing”), and compared with Ancient Greek σιμός (simós, “snub-nosed”) and Welsh chwil (“reeling, staggering”), though this is uncertain, as well as the Greek comparandum being unlikely. Cognate with Dutch zwade, zwad (“swath; windrow”), German Schwade (“swath; windrow”), Icelandic svæði (“area; zone; sector; region”). other etymological information Corresponds to Middle Low German and Middle Dutch swat, Middle High German and MNG swade, NDu swad(e), Old Frisian swethe (“border”). Root meaning: trace of a cut. Attested in English since 888 in its obsolete meaning of track or trace, since 1475 in its more modern usage. Cognate with German Schwaden (“row of mown grass or grain”). No definite cognates outside Germanic languages. * See F. Kluge, Etymologisches Wörterbuch (De Gruyter), entry Schwaden, and OED.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- sawth
- sswath
- swaht
- swathh
- swatth
- swtah
- swwath
- wsath
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of swath - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "swath", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).