urn

/ɜːn/

//ɜːn// noun

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

"urn" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“urn” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #21,404) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#21,404
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A vase with a footed base.

Corpus desk

Index EN-urn · urn · English

urn · rank #21,404 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,404
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH upkeep

Nearest frequency peer: upkeep (-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 neighbours of confusable “urn”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “urn” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

urn vs us
33% similar
urn vs UT
0% similar
urn vs UV
0% similar

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

Key facts for urn
PropertyValue
Headwordurn
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɜːn/
Letters3
Frequency rank#21,404
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “urn”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).urnlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “upkeep” (#21,403), “V6” (#21,405), “unreleased” (#21,402). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “urn” is #21,404. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for urn is neighbouring look-alikes ("us", "UT", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ɜːn/. Frequency #21,404 among 1,433 “U” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for urn, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "us", "UT", "UV", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English urne, from Old French urne, from Latin urna (“vessel”). Doublet of urna. The correct English form is urn, spelled U-R-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A vase with a footed base.
  2. 2
    A metal vessel for serving tea or coffee.
  3. 3
    A vessel for the ashes or cremains of a deceased person.
  4. 4
    Any place of burial; the grave.
  5. 5
    A measure of capacity for liquids, containing about three gallons and a half, wine measure. It was half the amphora, and four times the congius.
  6. 6
    A hollow body shaped like an urn, in which the spores of mosses are contained; a spore case; a theca.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A rustic, digging in the ground by Padua, […]found an urn, or earthen pot, in which there was another urn.
  2. His scattered limbs with my dead body burn, / And once more join us in the pious urn.

Etymology

From Middle English urne, from Old French urne, from Latin urna (“vessel”). Doublet of urna.

This word in other languages

urna(Español)urne(Français)Urne(Deutsch)

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 "urn"?
"urn" is spelled U-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ɜːn/.
What does "urn" mean?
As a noun, "urn" means: A vase with a footed base.
What words are commonly confused with "urn"?
"urn" is commonly confused with "us", "UT", "UV". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "urn"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "urn" is /ɜːn/. 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 "urn"?
From Middle English urne, from Old French urne, from Latin urna (“vessel”). Doublet of urna. 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 "urn", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Tue#21,393wis#21,426tak#21,378SNL#21,362

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list