trow

/tɹoʊ/

//tɹoʊ// verb

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

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

The verdict

“trow” is uncommon English (frequency #77,295 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,295
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To trust or believe.

Corpus desk

Index EN-trow · trow · English

trow · rank #77,295 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #77,295
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tripwire

Nearest frequency peer: tripwire (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “trow”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “trow” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for trow
PropertyValue
Headwordtrow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/tɹoʊ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#77,295
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “trow” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).trowfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “tripwire” (#77,294), “treeless” (#77,293), “trypsin” (#77,297). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “trow” is #77,295. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

trow is uncommon English at frequency #77,295 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /tɹoʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for trow in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English trowen, trouwen, treuwen, treowen, trouen, from Old English trēowan, trīewan (“to trust”) and Old English trūwian (“to trust, confide”), from Proto-Germanic *trewwāną (“to trust”) and Proto-Germanic *trūwāną (“to trust”); both from Proto… The correct English form is trow, spelled T-R-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    To trust or believe.
  2. 2
    To have confidence in, or to give credence to.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. ...Sure (he said) my wife shall never know Of this escape, and if she do, I know the worst I trow She can but chide, shall feare of chiding make me to forslow?
  2. Finding me stick to her still like wax, for my mettle was up as hers was, away she flew with me swifter than ever I went before, or since, I trow.

Etymology

From Middle English trowen, trouwen, treuwen, treowen, trouen, from Old English trēowan, trīewan (“to trust”) and Old English trūwian (“to trust, confide”), from Proto-Germanic *trewwāną (“to trust”) and Proto-Germanic *trūwāną (“to trust”); both from Proto-Indo-European *drew- (“faithful, true”). Akin to Scots trow, trew (“to believe, trust, confide in, prove”), Dutch trouwen (“to wed, marry”), German trauen (“to trust, marry”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish tro (“to believe, think”), Norwegian Nynorsk tru (“to believe, think”), Icelandic trúa (“to trust, believe, believe in”).

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 "trow"?
"trow" is spelled T-R-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /tɹoʊ/.
What does "trow" mean?
As a verb, "trow" means: To trust or believe.
How do you pronounce "trow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "trow" is /tɹoʊ/. 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 "trow"?
From Middle English trowen, trouwen, treuwen, treowen, trouen, from Old English trēowan, trīewan (“to trust”) and Old English trūwian (“to trust, confide”), from Proto-Germanic *trewwāną (“to trust”) and Proto-Germanic *trūwāną (“to trust”); both ... 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 "trow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

valk#77,316Vang#77,318weal#77,334tant#77,253

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list