tot
/tɒt/
"tot" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tot” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #23,707) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #23,707
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small child.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tot · tot · English
tot · rank #23,707 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #23,707
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH tod
Nearest frequency peer: tod (-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 “tot”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- TK
TK
76,296 corpus weight
- tod
tod
76,295 corpus weight
- tot
tot
76,294 corpus weight
- transcribed
transcribed
76,293 corpus weight
- tropics
tropics
76,292 corpus weight
- tsar
tsar
76,291 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “tot” 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 | tot |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /tɒt/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #23,707 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tot” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for tot is neighbouring look-alikes ("TV", "TX", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /tɒt/. Frequency #23,707 among 3,151 “T” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Zero misspellings are on record for tot in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "TV", "TX", "Tu", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Scots tot, a shortened form of totum (“small child; tot”), of uncertain origin, perhaps shortened from totter (“to move in an unsteady way”), Compare tottle, also Old Norse tottr (“name of a dwarf”), Swedish tutte (“small child”), Danish tomme… The correct English form is tot, spelled T-O-T.
Definition
- 1A small child.
- 2A small amount of liquor, (particularly) a small measure of rum.
- 3Ellipsis of tater tot.
- 4A small cup, usually made of tin.
- 5A foolish fellow.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tot appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He learned to run when he was just a tot.
When I was but a tiny tot, I knocked the neighbors cold / For I became to walk when I was scarcely one year old
Etymology
Borrowed from Scots tot, a shortened form of totum (“small child; tot”), of uncertain origin, perhaps shortened from totter (“to move in an unsteady way”), Compare tottle, also Old Norse tottr (“name of a dwarf”), Swedish tutte (“small child”), Danish tommeltot (“little child”).
Synonyms
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 "tot", 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 "tot". Here's where to go from here.
- "tot" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "TV". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #23,707 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.