tor
/tɔː/
"tor" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tor” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,625) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #13,625
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A craggy outcrop of rock on the summit of a hill, created by the erosion and weathering of rock.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tor · tor · English
tor · rank #13,625 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #13,625
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH Tanzania
Nearest frequency peer: Tanzania (-2 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 “tor”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- sweetie
sweetie
86,380 corpus weight
- swollen
swollen
86,379 corpus weight
- Tanzania
Tanzania
86,378 corpus weight
- tor
tor
86,376 corpus weight
- traveler
traveler
86,374 corpus weight
- Tunisia
Tunisia
86,373 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “tor” 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).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tor |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /tɔː/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #13,625 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tor” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for tor is neighbouring look-alikes ("TV", "TX", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /tɔː/. Frequency #13,625 among 3,151 “T” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for tor, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "TV", "TX", "Tu", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tor, torr-, from Old English torr, tor (“a high rock, lofty hill, tower”), possibly from Proto-Celtic, compare Old Welsh *tor (“hill”); ultimately from Latin turris (“tower”), from Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis), τύρσις (túrsis, “tower”)… The correct English form is tor, spelled T-O-R.
Definition
- 1A craggy outcrop of rock on the summit of a hill, created by the erosion and weathering of rock.
- 2A hill with such rock formation.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tor appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Bursdon and Welsford were then, as now, a rolling range of dreary moors, unbroken by tor or tree, […]
The moon was low upon the right, and the jagged pinnacle of a granite tor stood up against the lower curve of its silver disc.
Etymology
From Middle English tor, torr-, from Old English torr, tor (“a high rock, lofty hill, tower”), possibly from Proto-Celtic, compare Old Welsh *tor (“hill”); ultimately from Latin turris (“tower”), from Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis), τύρσις (túrsis, “tower”), of non-Indo-European origin. Cognate with Cornish tor, Scottish Gaelic tòrr, Welsh twr, Irish tor, French tor, and Romansh tor/tur/tuor; the first four are Celtic (from Latin turris), the last two directly from Latin turris (from Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) and τύρσις (túrsis)). It is not clear whether the Celtic forms were borrowed from Old English or vice versa. Doublet of tourelle, tower, and turret.
This word in other languages
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tor", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "tor". Here's where to go from here.
- "tor" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "TV". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #13,625 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.