web

/wɛb/

//wɛb// noun

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

The verdict

“web” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,883 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,883
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The silken structure which a spider builds using silk secreted from the spinnerets at the caudal tip of its abdomen; a spiderweb.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

web vs wi
33% similar
web vs Wu
0% similar
web vs wo
33% similar

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

Key facts for web
PropertyValue
Headwordweb
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/wɛb/
Letters3
Frequency rank#1,883
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “web” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for web is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /wɛb/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,883 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 22 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No generated misspelling entries exist for web in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wi", "Wu", "wo", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *webʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *webaną Proto-Germanic *wabją Old English webb Middle English web English web From Middle English web, webbe, from Old English webb, from Proto-West Germanic *wabi, from Proto-Germanic *wabją (“we… The correct English form is web, spelled W-E-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    The silken structure which a spider builds using silk secreted from the spinnerets at the caudal tip of its abdomen; a spiderweb.
  2. 2
    Any interconnected set of persons, places, or things, which, when diagrammed, resembles a spider's web.
  3. 3
    The part of a baseball mitt between the forefinger and thumb, the webbing.
  4. 4
    A latticed or woven structure.
  5. 5
    A tall tale with more complexity than a myth or legend.
  6. 6
    A plot or scheme.
  7. 7
    The interconnection between flanges in structural members, increasing the effective lever arm and so the load capacity of the member.
  8. 8
    The thinner vertical section of a railway rail between the top (head) and bottom (foot) of the rail.
  9. 9
    A fold of tissue connecting the toes of certain birds, or of other animals.
  10. 10
    The series of barbs implanted on each side of the shaft of a feather, whether stiff and united together by barbules, as in ordinary feathers, or soft and separate, as in downy feathers.
  11. 11
    A continuous strip of material carried by rollers during processing.
  12. 12
    A long sheet of paper which is fed from a roll into a printing press, as opposed to individual sheets of paper.
  13. 13
    A seventeenth-century unit of Rhenish glass containing 60 bunches.
  14. 14
    A band of webbing used to regulate the extension of the hood of a carriage.
  15. 15
    A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
  16. 16
    A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
  17. 17
    A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
  18. 18
    A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
  19. 19
    A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
  20. 20
    A major broadcasting network.
  21. 21
    A section of a groin vault, separated by ribs.
  22. 22
    A cataract of the eye.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *webʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *webaną Proto-Germanic *wabją Old English webb Middle English web English web From Middle English web, webbe, from Old English webb, from Proto-West Germanic *wabi, from Proto-Germanic *wabją (“web”), from Proto-Germanic *webaną (“to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”). Cognates Cognate with Scots wab (“web”), North Frisian wääb (“web”), Saterland Frisian Wäb (“web”), West Frisian and Dutch web (“web”), Danish væv (“web”), Faroese vevur (“web”), Icelandic vefur (“web”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk vev (“web”), Swedish väv (“web”); also Cornish goghi (“wasps”), Irish foich, foiche, puch (“wasp”), Welsh gwchi (“drone”), Latin vespa (“wasp”), Ancient Greek ὑφή (huphḗ, “web”), ὑφαίνω (huphaínō, “to weave”) (whence Greek ανυφαίνω (anyfaíno), υφαίνω (yfaíno, “to weave”)), Albanian vej (“to weave”), Latvian lapsene (“wasp”), Lithuanian vapsvà (“wasp”), Old Prussian wobse (“wasp”), Belarusian аса́ (asá, “wasp”), Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian оса́ (osá, “wasp”), Czech vosa (“wasp”), Polish, Slovak, and Slovene osa (“wasp”), Serbo-Croatian о̀са, òsa (“wasp”), Armenian մոզ (moz, “a kind of fly that bites horses and cattle”), Northern Kurdish moz (“hornet; wasp”), Persian بافتن (bâftan, “to weave”), Tocharian A wäp- (“to weave”), Tocharian B wāp- (“to weave”), Sanskrit उभ्नाति (ubhnāti, “to hurt, kill; to cover; fill”).

This word in other languages

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 "web"?
"web" is spelled W-E-B. The IPA pronunciation is /wɛb/.
What does "web" mean?
As a noun, "web" means: The silken structure which a spider builds using silk secreted from the spinnerets at the caudal tip of its abdomen; a spiderweb.
What words are commonly confused with "web"?
"web" is commonly confused with "wi", "Wu", "wo". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "web"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "web" is /wɛb/. 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 "web"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *webʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *webaną Proto-Germanic *wabją Old English webb Middle English web English web From Middle English web, webbe, from Old English webb, from Proto-West Germanic *wabi, from Proto-Germanic *... 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.

Using “web”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is W-E-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /wɛb/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “wi” - see the side-by-side comparison. web vs wi
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list