tar

/tɑː/

//tɑː// noun

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

"tar" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tar” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #12,515) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#12,515
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A black, oily, sticky, viscous substance, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons derived from organic materials such as wood, peat, or coal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tar · tar · English

tar · rank #12,515 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #12,515
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sunderland

Nearest frequency peer: Sunderland (-2 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 neighbours of confusable “tar”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “tar” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

tar vs to
33% similar
tar vs TV
0% similar
tar vs te
33% similar

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

Key facts for tar
PropertyValue
Headwordtar
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɑː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#12,515
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “tar”

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).tarlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Sunderland” (#12,513), “temporal” (#12,517), “succeeding” (#12,512). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tar” is #12,515. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for tar is neighbouring look-alikes ("to", "TV", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /tɑː/. Frequency #12,515 among 3,151 “T” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for tar, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "to", "TV", "te", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *dóru From Middle English ter, terr, tarr, from Old English teoru, from Proto-West Germanic *teru, from Proto-Germanic *terwą, from Proto-Indo-European *derwo-, from *dóru (“tree”). See also Saterland Frisian Taar, West Frisian tarre, tar, Dutch t… The correct English form is tar, spelled T-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A black, oily, sticky, viscous substance, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons derived from organic materials such as wood, peat, or coal.
  2. 2
    A black, oily, sticky, viscous substance, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons derived from organic materials such as wood, peat, or coal.
  3. 3
    A sailor (because of the traditional tarpaulin clothes).
  4. 4
    Black tar, a form of heroin.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Shines in all climates like a star; In senates bold, and fierce in war; A land commander, and a tar.
  2. a ruminating tar was[…]adorning [the wooden settle] with his jack-knife,[…]trying his hand at a ship under full sail.

Etymology

PIE word *dóru From Middle English ter, terr, tarr, from Old English teoru, from Proto-West Germanic *teru, from Proto-Germanic *terwą, from Proto-Indo-European *derwo-, from *dóru (“tree”). See also Saterland Frisian Taar, West Frisian tarre, tar, Dutch teer, German Teer; also Welsh derw (“oaks”), Lithuanian dervà (“pinewood, resin”), Russian де́рево (dérevo, “tree”), Bulgarian дърво́ (dǎrvó, “tree”). More at tree.

This word in other languages

alquitrán(Español)goudron(Français)Teer(Deutsch)alcatrão(Português)

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 "tar"?
"tar" is spelled T-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is /tɑː/.
What does "tar" mean?
As a noun, "tar" means: A black, oily, sticky, viscous substance, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons derived from organic materials such as wood, peat, or coal.
What words are commonly confused with "tar"?
"tar" is commonly confused with "to", "TV", "te". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tar" is /tɑː/. 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 "tar"?
PIE word *dóru From Middle English ter, terr, tarr, from Old English teoru, from Proto-West Germanic *teru, from Proto-Germanic *terwą, from Proto-Indo-European *derwo-, from *dóru (“tree”). See also Saterland Frisian Taar, West Frisian tarre, ta... 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 "tar", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

soy#12,504sis#12,501Abe#12,535rum#12,492

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list