ube
[ˈʔuː.bɛ]
"ube" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ube” is uncommon English (frequency #83,852 among 1,433 “U” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,852
- frequency rank, English
- 1,433
- “U” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - The purple yam, Dioscorea alata.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ube · ube · English
ube · rank #83,852 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #83,852
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,433
- PHOTO-FINISH Uehara
Nearest frequency peer: Uehara (+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 “ube”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- twerp
twerp
16,153 corpus weight
- ube
ube
16,149 corpus weight
- Uehara
Uehara
16,148 corpus weight
- unbending
unbending
16,147 corpus weight
- underrate
underrate
16,145 corpus weight
- understeer
understeer
16,144 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “ube” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ube |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈʔuː.bɛ] |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #83,852 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ube” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
ube is uncommon English at frequency #83,852 among 1,433 “U” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈʔuː.bɛ]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The purple yam, Dioscorea alata.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for ube in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Tagalog ube. The correct English form is ube, spelled U-B-E.
Definition
- 1The purple yam, Dioscorea alata.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how ube appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ube is a popular ingredient in cakes and ice-cream in the Philippines and Jamaica.
Etymology
Borrowed from Tagalog ube.
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 2, 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 "ube", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 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.