tree

/tɹiː/

//tɹiː// noun

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

The verdict

“tree” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,508 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,508
frequency rank, English
4
letters
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A perennial woody plant taller and larger than a shrub with a wooden trunk and, at some distance from the ground, having leaves and branches.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

tree vs try
50% similar
tree vs tri
50% similar
tree vs Tue
25% similar

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

Key facts for tree
PropertyValue
Headwordtree
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɹiː/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,508
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tree” 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). tree lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for tree is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɹiː/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,508 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for tree, with forms such as "rtee", "tere", and "trree". 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, "try", "tri", "Tue", 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 *drew- Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Germanic *trewą Proto-West Germanic *treu Old English trēow Middle English tre English tree PIE word *dóru From Middle English trau, tre, tree, treo, treou, trew, trewe, troe, trouȝh… The correct English form is tree, spelled T-R-E-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A perennial woody plant taller and larger than a shrub with a wooden trunk and, at some distance from the ground, having leaves and branches.
  2. 2
    Any other plant (such as a large shrub or herb) that is reminiscent of the above in form and size.
  3. 3
    An object made from a tree trunk and having multiple hooks or storage platforms.
  4. 4
    A device used to hold or stretch a shoe open.
  5. 5
    The structural frame of a saddle.
  6. 6
    A connected graph with no cycles or, if the graph is finite, equivalently a connected graph with n vertices and n−1 edges.
  7. 7
    A recursive data structure in which each node has zero or more nodes as children, but does not share children with other nodes.
  8. 8
    A display or listing of entries or elements such that there are primary and secondary entries shown, usually linked by drawn lines or by indenting to the right.
  9. 9
    Any structure or construct having branches representing divergence or possible choices.
  10. 10
    The structure or wooden frame used in the construction of a saddle used in horse riding.
  11. 11
    Marijuana.
  12. 12
    A cross or gallows.
  13. 13
    A mass of crystals, aggregated in arborescent forms, obtained by precipitation of a metal from solution.
  14. 14
    The fifth Lenormand card.
  15. 15
    Alternative letter-case form of TREE.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *drew- Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Germanic *trewą Proto-West Germanic *treu Old English trēow Middle English tre English tree PIE word *dóru From Middle English trau, tre, tree, treo, treou, trew, trewe, troe, trouȝh, trouȝgh, trow, trowe, from Old English trēo, trēow, trēu, trīo, trīow, trȳw (“tree; wood; forest; beam, cudgel, log; cross”), from Proto-West Germanic *treu, from Proto-Germanic *trewą (“tree”), from pre-Germanic *dréwom, thematic e-grade derivative of Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”). Related to tar, true. Cognates Cognate with Dutch teer (“tree”), Danish, Faroese, and Scanian træ (“tree; timber, wood”), Elfdalian trai (“tree; timber, wood”), Icelandic tré (“tree; wood”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk tre (“tree; wood”), Swedish trä (“wood; tree”), träd (“tree”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌿 (triu, “piece of wood”); also Breton derv (“oak”), Cornish dar (“oak”), Irish dair (“oak”), Manx darragh (“oak; oaken”), Scottish Gaelic darach (“oak”), Welsh dâr (“oak”), Ancient Greek δόρυ (dóru, “tree; wood; spear”) (whence Greek δόρυ (dóry, “pike, spear”)), Albanian dru (“tree; wood”), Latvian darva (“tar”), Lithuanian derva (“tar; resin”), Belarusian дзе́рава (dzjérava, “tree”), дрэ́ва (dréva, “tree; wood”), Czech drvo, dřevo (“wood”), Polish drzewo (“tree; wood”), Russian де́рево (dérevo), дре́во (drévo, “tree; wood”), Serbo-Croatian др̏во, drȇvo, drijȇvo, drȋvo, dȑvo (“tree; wood”), Slovak and Slovene drevo (“tree; wood”), Ukrainian де́рево (dérevo, “tree; wood”), Armenian տարր (tarr, “element; component”), Avestan 𐬛𐬁𐬎𐬭𐬎 (dāᵘru, “wood”), Central Kurdish and Persian دار (dâr, “tree; wood”), Northern Kurdish dar (“tree”), Zazaki dare (“tree”), Hittite 𒋫𒊒 (taru), 𒋫𒀀𒊒 (táru, “tree; wood”), Luwian 𒋫𒀀𒊒 (tāru, “wood”), Tocharian A and Tocharian B or (“wood”), Sanskrit दारु (dāru, “timber, wood”). Replaced alternative Middle English beem, from Old English bēam (see beam) and eclipsed non-native Middle English arbre, borrowed from Old French arbre.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: rtee,tere,trree,ttree

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

rtee2tere2trree1ttree1
Edit distance from "tree"

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 "tree"?
"tree" is spelled T-R-E-E. The IPA pronunciation is /tɹiː/.
What does "tree" mean?
As a noun, "tree" means: A perennial woody plant taller and larger than a shrub with a wooden trunk and, at some distance from the ground, having leaves and branches.
What words are commonly confused with "tree"?
"tree" is commonly confused with "try", "tri", "Tue". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tree"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tree" is /tɹiː/. 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 "tree"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *drew- Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Germanic *trewą Proto-West Germanic *treu Old English trēow Middle English tre English tree PIE word *dóru From Middle English trau, tre, tree, treo, treou, trew, trewe, tr... 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.

Using “tree”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-R-E-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /tɹiː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “try” - see the side-by-side comparison. tree vs try
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list