thieve
/θiːv/
"thieve" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thieve” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To commit theft.
Corpus desk
Index EN-thieve · thieve · English
thieve · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | thieve |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /θiːv/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “thieve” in English
Rare enough to double-check
thieve is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /θiːv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To commit theft.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for thieve, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *theven [found in Middle English thevinge (“thieving”)], from Old English þēofian, ġeþēofian, ġeþīefian (“to thieve, steal”). The correct English form is thieve, spelled T-H-I-E-V-E.
Definition
- 1To commit theft.
Etymology
From Middle English *theven [found in Middle English thevinge (“thieving”)], from Old English þēofian, ġeþēofian, ġeþīefian (“to thieve, steal”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.