tare

/tɛə/

//tɛə// noun

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

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

The verdict

“tare” is uncommon English (frequency #64,759 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,759
frequency rank, English
27,828
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A vetch, or the seed of a vetch (genus Vicia, esp. Vicia sativa)

Key facts for tare
PropertyValue
Headwordtare
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɛə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#64,759
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tare” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). tare lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tare is uncommon English at frequency #64,759 among 27,828 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /tɛə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tare, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tare (“vetch”), from Old English *taru, from Proto-West Germanic *taru. The correct English form is tare, spelled T-A-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A vetch, or the seed of a vetch (genus Vicia, esp. Vicia sativa)
  2. 2
    Any of the tufted grasses of genus Lolium; darnel.
  3. 3
    A damaging weed growing in fields of grain.

Etymology

From Middle English tare (“vetch”), from Old English *taru, from Proto-West Germanic *taru.

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 "tare"?
"tare" is spelled T-A-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /tɛə/.
What does "tare" mean?
As a noun, "tare" means: A vetch, or the seed of a vetch (genus Vicia, esp. Vicia sativa)
How do you pronounce "tare"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tare" is /tɛə/. 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 "tare"?
From Middle English tare (“vetch”), from Old English *taru, from Proto-West Germanic *taru. 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.

Using “tare”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-A-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /tɛə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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