tide

Name: tide, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/taɪd/

//taɪd// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“tide” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #6,637) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#6,637
frequency rank, English: 3,151
“T” headwords: 4
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The daily fluctuation in the level of the sea caused by the gravitational influence of the moon and the sun.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tide · tide · English

tide · rank #6,637 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-COMMON #6,637
LEN-MID 4 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-LOW 4 variants
BOOK-MID 3,151
PHOTO-FINISH thesis

Nearest frequency peer: thesis (-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.

tablet

93,367
tent

93,366
thesis

93,365
tide

93,364
travels

93,363
Wallace

93,362

What this shows Bars show where “tide” 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).

tide vs tip

50% similar

tide vs tie

75% similar

tide vs Tim

25% similar

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

Key facts for tide
Property	Value
Headword	tide
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/taɪd/
Letters	4
Frequency rank	#6,637
Misspellings tracked	4
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tide” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).tide lands here:

#6,637

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for tide is neighbouring look-alikes ("tip", "tie", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /taɪd/. Frequency #6,637 among 3,151 “T” headwords. 9 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for tide, with forms such as "itde", "tdie", and "tidde". 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, "tip", "tie", "Tim", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

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… The correct English form is tide, spelled T-I-D-E.

Definition

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

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

The Bristol Channel has some of the world's largest tides.
A lot of driftwood was brought in on the tide.

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

marea(Español)marée(Français)Gezeiten(Deutsch)maré(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

itde
tdie
tidde
ttide

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "tide"

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 "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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tide", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

tent#6,635 spam#6,624 slim#6,621 bolt#6,659

What to do next

You've looked up "tide". Here's where to go from here.

"tide" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "tip". View pair
4 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
Usage frequency rank #6,637 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.