tey
"tey" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tey” is uncommon English (frequency #86,846 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #86,846
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An English measure of length for rope, perhaps equivalent to the fathom.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tey · tey · English
tey · rank #86,846 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #86,846
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH thal
Nearest frequency peer: thal (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “tey”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- teel
teel
13,161 corpus weight
- Tehachapi
Tehachapi
13,160 corpus weight
- tey
tey
13,155 corpus weight
- thal
thal
13,153 corpus weight
- thingie
thingie
13,151 corpus weight
- Tibbetts
Tibbetts
13,149 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “tey” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tey |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #86,846 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tey” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tey is uncommon English at frequency #86,846 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An English measure of length for rope, perhaps equivalent to the fathom.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for tey in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Derived from Middle English teies, teyse, taken as a plural, from Anglo-Norman teice, from Old French teise, toise. The correct English form is tey, spelled T-E-Y.
Definition
- 1An English measure of length for rope, perhaps equivalent to the fathom.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how tey appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The tey or toise, the modern fathom, is employed as a measure of rope.
Etymology
Derived from Middle English teies, teyse, taken as a plural, from Anglo-Norman teice, from Old French teise, toise.
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 "tey", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).