threshold
/ˈθɹeʃəʊld/
"threshold" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“threshold” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,845 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,845
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.
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 | threshold |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈθɹeʃəʊld/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #6,845 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “threshold” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for threshold is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈθɹeʃəʊld/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,845 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for threshold, with forms such as "htreshold", "thershold", and "thhreshold". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "threefold", 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 threschwolde, threscholde, from Old English þresċold, þerxold, þrexwold (“doorsill, entryway”), from Proto-Germanic *þreskudlaz, *þreskūþlijaz, *þreskwaþluz, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną, *þreskwaną (“to thresh, (originally) to tread”),… The correct English form is threshold, spelled T-H-R-E-S-H-O-L-D.
Definition
- 1The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.
- 2An entrance; the door or gate of a house.
- 3Any end or boundary.
- 4The outset of something; the point of entry, or the beginning of an action.
- 5The start of the landing area of a runway.
- 6The quantitative point at which an action is triggered, especially a lower limit.
- 7The wage or salary at which income tax becomes due.
- 8The point where one is mentally or physically vulnerable in response to a provocation or to other nuisances.
Etymology
From Middle English threschwolde, threscholde, from Old English þresċold, þerxold, þrexwold (“doorsill, entryway”), from Proto-Germanic *þreskudlaz, *þreskūþlijaz, *þreskwaþluz, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną, *þreskwaną (“to thresh, (originally) to tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, turn”). Cognate with Low German Drüssel (“threshold”), dialectal German Drischaufel, Drissufle, Trüschübel (“threshold”), Danish tærskel (“threshold”), Norwegian terskel (“threshold”), Swedish tröskel (“threshold”), dialectal Swedish träskvald (“threshold”), Icelandic þröskuldur (“threshold”). Pronunciations such as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with hold.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htreshold,thershold,thhreshold,threhsold,threshhold,threshlod,threshodl,thresholdd,thresholld,thresohld,thresshold,thrreshold,thrsehold,trheshold,tthreshold
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of threshold - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Using “threshold”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-R-E-S-H-O-L-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈθɹeʃəʊld/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “threefold” - see the side-by-side comparison. threshold vs threefold
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.