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tide

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "tide", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "tide" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "tide" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

tide is aEnglishnoun. It means: The daily fluctuation in the level of the sea caused by the gravitational influence of the moon and the sun. Pronounced /taɪd/. It ranks #6,637 in English word frequency. Often confused with tip and tie.

Key facts for tide
PropertyValue
Headwordtide
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/taɪd/
Letters4
Frequency rank#6,637
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of tide in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for tide is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /taɪd/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,637 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 4 documented wrong-spelling variants for tide, with forms such as "itde", "tdie", and "tidde". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tip", "tie", "Tim", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis Proto-Germanic *tīdiz Proto-West Germanic *tīdi Old English tīd Middle English tyde English tide Inherited from Middle English tyde, from Old English tīd, fro… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is tide, spelled T-I-D-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The daily fluctuation in the level of the sea caused by the gravitational influence of the moon and the sun.
  2. 2
    The associated flow of water.
  3. 3
    Any similar gravitational effect on Earth or other body.
  4. 4
    A high-volume flow, literal or figurative; a current or flood.
  5. 5
    The tendency or direction of causes, influences, or events; course; current.
  6. 6
    Time, notably anniversary, period or season linked to an ecclesiastical feast.
  7. 7
    A time.
  8. 8
    A point or period of time identified or described by a qualifier.
  9. 9
    The period of twelve hours.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis Proto-Germanic *tīdiz Proto-West Germanic *tīdi Old English tīd Middle English tyde English tide Inherited from Middle English tyde, from Old English tīd, from Proto-West Germanic *tīdi, from Proto-Germanic *tīdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis, from *deh₂y- + *-tis. Related to time.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: itde,tdie,tidde,ttide

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for tide

Misspelling Variants of "tide"

itde4tdie4tidde5ttide5
Misspelling Variants of "tide"

Frequency rank: #6,637 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tide"?
"tide" is spelled T-I-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /taɪd/.
What does "tide" mean?
As a noun, "tide" means: The daily fluctuation in the level of the sea caused by the gravitational influence of the moon and the sun.
What words are commonly confused with "tide"?
"tide" is commonly confused with "tip", "tie", "Tim". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tide"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tide" is /taɪd/. 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 "tide"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis Proto-Germanic *tīdiz Proto-West Germanic *tīdi Old English tīd Middle English tyde English tide Inherited from Middle English tyde, from Old Englis... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.