thaw

/θɔː/

//θɔː// verb

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

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

The verdict

“thaw” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,130. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,130
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To gradually melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften from frozen.

Corpus desk

Index EN-thaw · thaw · English

thaw · rank #23,130 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,130
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Texan

Nearest frequency peer: Texan (-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 “thaw”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “thaw” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

thaw vs the
50% similar
thaw vs tho
50% similar
thaw vs thy
50% similar

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

Key facts for thaw
PropertyValue
Headwordthaw
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/θɔː/
Letters4
Frequency rank#23,130
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “thaw”

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).thawlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Texan” (#23,129), “throughput” (#23,131), “Tessa” (#23,127). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “thaw” is #23,130. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around thaw (IPA /θɔː/), averb. Corpus frequency is #23,130 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for thaw, with forms such as "htaw", "tahw", and "thaww". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "the", "tho", "thy", 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 thowen, thawen, from Old English þawian, *þāwan (“to thaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *þauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *þawjaną (“to thaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- (“to melt”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian daie, dauje (“to thaw”)… The correct English form is thaw, spelled T-H-A-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    To gradually melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften from frozen.
  2. 2
    To become sufficiently warm to melt ice and snow, said in reference to the weather.
  3. 3
    To grow gentle or genial.
  4. 4
    To gradually cause frozen things (such as earth, snow, ice) to melt, soften, or dissolve.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. the ice thaws
  2. It's beginning to thaw.

Etymology

From Middle English thowen, thawen, from Old English þawian, *þāwan (“to thaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *þauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *þawjaną (“to thaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- (“to melt”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian daie, dauje (“to thaw”), West Frisian teie (“to thaw”), Dutch dooien (“to thaw”), German Low German deien (“to thaw”), German tauen (“to thaw”), Swedish töa (“to thaw”), Icelandic þeyja (“to thaw”).

This word in other languages

descongelar(Español)dégeler(Français)tauen(Deutsch)descongelar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • htaw
  • tahw
  • thaww
  • thhaw
  • thwa
  • tthaw

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of thaw - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

htaw2tahw2thaww1thhaw1thwa2tthaw1
Edit distance from "thaw"

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 "thaw"?
"thaw" is spelled T-H-A-W. The IPA pronunciation is /θɔː/.
What does "thaw" mean?
As a verb, "thaw" means: To gradually melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften from frozen.
What words are commonly confused with "thaw"?
"thaw" is commonly confused with "the", "tho", "thy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "thaw"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "thaw" is /θɔː/. 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 "thaw"?
From Middle English thowen, thawen, from Old English þawian, *þāwan (“to thaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *þauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *þawjaną (“to thaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- (“to melt”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian daie, dauje (... 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 "thaw", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tout#23,134USPS#23,149sobs#23,107slur#23,105

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

wares6 variantsYves6 variantsAlden6 variantssewn6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list