Uist
/ˈjuː.ɪst/
"uist" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Uist” is uncommon English (frequency #67,125 among 1,433 “U” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #67,125
- frequency rank, English
- 1,433
- “U” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - An archipelago of the Western Isles council area, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, consisting of North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and several smaller islands.
Corpus desk
Index EN-uist · Uist · English
Uist · rank #67,125 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #67,125
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,433
- PHOTO-FINISH Ulbricht
Nearest frequency peer: Ulbricht (+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 “Uist”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- TYP
TYP
32,878 corpus weight
- Uist
Uist
32,876 corpus weight
- Ulbricht
Ulbricht
32,875 corpus weight
- understate
understate
32,874 corpus weight
- undistingui…
undistinguished
32,873 corpus weight
- unfailingly
unfailingly
32,872 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “Uist” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Uist |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈjuː.ɪst/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #67,125 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Uist” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Uist is uncommon English at frequency #67,125 among 1,433 “U” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈjuː.ɪst/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An archipelago of the Western Isles council area, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, consisting of North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and several smaller islands.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for Uist in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scottish Gaelic Uibhist, of uncertain but possibly Old Norse origin; the final syllable was at the very least influenced by Old Norse vist (“abode”). Coates (2006) suggested possible derivation from the Proto-Semitic equivalents of Hebrew אי (“island”)… The correct English form is Uist, spelled U-I-S-T.
Definition
- 1An archipelago of the Western Isles council area, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, consisting of North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and several smaller islands.
Etymology
From Scottish Gaelic Uibhist, of uncertain but possibly Old Norse origin; the final syllable was at the very least influenced by Old Norse vist (“abode”). Coates (2006) suggested possible derivation from the Proto-Semitic equivalents of Hebrew אי (“island”) + בושם (“balsam, fragrance, perfume”); compare English Ibiza.
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 "Uist", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
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- Usage frequency rank #67,125 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "U" letter cohort. U–Z browse
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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.