third
/θɜːd/
"third" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“third” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #483. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #483
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The ordinal form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second.
Corpus desk
Index EN-third · third · English
third · rank #483 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #483
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH soon
Nearest frequency peer: soon (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “third”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- red
red
99,521 corpus weight
- report
report
99,520 corpus weight
- soon
soon
99,519 corpus weight
- third
third
99,518 corpus weight
- turn
turn
99,517 corpus weight
- whether
whether
99,516 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “third” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | third |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /θɜːd/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #483 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “third” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around third (IPA /θɜːd/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #483 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The ordinal form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for third, with forms such as "htird", "thhird", and "thidr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "this", "tied", "tire", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *tréyes From Middle English thirde, thridde, from Old English þridda, from Proto-Germanic *þridjô, from Pre-Germanic *tretyós, a remodeling of Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós. The correct English form is third, spelled T-H-I-R-D.
Definition
- 1The ordinal form of the cardinal number three; Coming after the second.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how third appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The third tree from the left is my favorite.
The second and third quarters of the shield are indecipherable on the stone but clearer in two other representations of the arms, a painted wooden funeral hatchment for Mary Davie[…]
Etymology
PIE word *tréyes From Middle English thirde, thridde, from Old English þridda, from Proto-Germanic *þridjô, from Pre-Germanic *tretyós, a remodeling of Proto-Indo-European *tr̥tyós.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- htird
- thhird
- thidr
- thirdd
- thirrd
- thrid
- tihrd
- tthird
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of third - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "third"?
What does "third" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "third", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "third". Here's where to go from here.
- "third" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "this". View pair
- 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #483 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "T" letter cohort. T–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.