# wade

> English word · Verb · IPA /weɪd/ · frequency rank #7,409

## Definitions
1. To walk through water or something that impedes progress.
2. To progress with difficulty.
3. To walk through (water or similar impediment); to pass through by wading.
4. To gleam intermittently through clouds or mist.
5. To enter recklessly.

## Etymology
From Middle English waden, from Old English wadan, from Proto-West Germanic *wadan, from Proto-Germanic *wadaną (“to go, pass through”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- (“to go”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian waadje (“to wade”), West Frisian wâdzje (“to wade”), Dutch waden (“to wade”), German Low German waden (“to wade”), German waten (“to wade”), Danish vade (“to wade”), Swedish vada (“to wade”), Icelandic vaða (“to wade”), and Latin vādō (“go, walk; rush”).

## Easily confused with
- **we** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-we)
- **WD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wd)
- **was** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-was)
- **way** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-way)
- **war** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-war)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wwe)
- **wax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wax)
- **wee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wee)
- **wan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wan)
- **wed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wed)
- **WAL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wal)
- **wah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wah)
- **wat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wat)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-woe)
- **wai** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wai)
- **wag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wag)
- **Wie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wie)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wye)
- **WMD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wmd)
- **WAP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wade-vs-wap)

## Common misspellings (5)
`awde`, `wadde`, `waed`, `wdae`, `wwade`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wade