tomb

/tuːm/

//tuːm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"tomb" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tomb” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,495. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,495
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small building, or a room within one, for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be partly or wholly in the ground (except ...

Corpus desk

Index EN-tomb · tomb · English

tomb · rank #8,495 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,495
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH thirteen

Nearest frequency peer: thirteen (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “tomb”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “tomb” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tomb vs too
50% similar
tomb vs top
50% similar
tomb vs toy
50% similar

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

Key facts for tomb
PropertyValue
Headwordtomb
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tuːm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#8,495
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tomb”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).tomblands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “thirteen” (#8,494), “touring” (#8,496), “tens” (#8,493). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tomb” is #8,495. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around tomb (IPA /tuːm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,495 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for tomb, with forms such as "otmb", "tmob", and "tobm". 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, "too", "top", "toy", and more, 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 tombe, toumbe, borrowed from Old French tombe, from Latin tumba from Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”). The verb is from Middle English tomben. The correct English form is tomb, spelled T-O-M-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    A small building, or a room within one, for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be partly or wholly in the ground (except for its entrance) in a cemetery, or it may be inside a church proper or in its crypt. Single tombs may be permanently sealed; those for families (or other groups) have doors for access whenever needed.
  2. 2
    A pit in which the dead body of a human being is deposited.
  3. 3
    One who keeps secrets.
  4. 4
    Death (literary)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.
  2. I never told anyone about it. You're the first, except Ivan, of course—Ivan knows everything. He knew about it long before you. But Ivan's a tomb.

Etymology

From Middle English tombe, toumbe, borrowed from Old French tombe, from Latin tumba from Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”). The verb is from Middle English tomben.

This word in other languages

tumba(Español)tombe(Français)Grabmal(Deutsch)túmulo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • otmb
  • tmob
  • tobm
  • tombb
  • tommb
  • ttomb

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tomb - 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.

otmb2tmob2tobm2tombb1tommb1ttomb1
Edit distance from "tomb"

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

How do you spell "tomb"?
"tomb" is spelled T-O-M-B. The IPA pronunciation is /tuːm/.
What does "tomb" mean?
As a noun, "tomb" means: A small building, or a room within one, for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be partly or wholly in the ground (except ...
What words are commonly confused with "tomb"?
"tomb" is commonly confused with "too", "top", "toy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tomb"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tomb" is /tuːm/. 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 "tomb"?
From Middle English tombe, toumbe, borrowed from Old French tombe, from Latin tumba from Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”). The verb is from Middle English tomben. 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 "tomb", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

tens#8,493trim#8,499blah#8,515Peru#8,466

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

willie6 variantsbaron6 variantsbunny6 variantsonion6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list