tonge

noun

"tonge" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tonge” is uncommon English (frequency #93,241 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#93,241
frequency rank, English
27,828
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Obsolete spelling of tongue.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tonge · tonge · English

tonge · rank #93,241 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #93,241
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 27,828
  • PHOTO-FINISH TLI

Nearest frequency peer: TLI (-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 “tonge”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “tonge” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026
Key facts for tonge
PropertyValue
Headwordtonge
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters5
Frequency rank#93,241
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tonge” sits in English frequency

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

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

tonge is uncommon English at frequency #93,241 among 27,828 “T” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Obsolete spelling of tongue.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for tonge, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is tonge, spelled T-O-N-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Obsolete spelling of tongue.

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 May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tonge"?
"tonge" is spelled T-O-N-G-E.
What does "tonge" mean?
As a noun, "tonge" means: Obsolete spelling of tongue.
What language does "tonge" come from?
"tonge" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "tonge", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list