weed

/wiːd/

//wiːd// noun

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

"weed" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“weed” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #4,566) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#4,566
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any plant unwanted at the place where and at the time when it is growing.

Corpus desk

Index EN-weed · weed · English

weed · rank #4,566 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,566
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH vessel

Nearest frequency peer: vessel (-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 “weed”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “weed” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

weed vs wet
50% similar
weed vs WWE
0% similar
weed vs Wes
25% similar

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

Key facts for weed
PropertyValue
Headwordweed
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/wiːd/
Letters4
Frequency rank#4,566
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “weed” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).weedlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “vessel” (#4,565), “wherever” (#4,567), “utility” (#4,564). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for weed is neighbouring look-alikes ("wet", "WWE", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /wiːd/. Frequency #4,566 among 1,759 “W” headwords. 9 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for weed, with forms such as "ewed", "wede", and "weedd". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wet", "WWE", "Wes", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English weed, weod, from Old English wēod (“weed”), from Proto-West Germanic *weud (“weed”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Jood (“weed”), West Frisian wjûd (“weed”), Dutch wied (“unwanted plant, weed”), German Low German Weed (“weed”), Old High… The correct English form is weed, spelled W-E-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any plant unwanted at the place where and at the time when it is growing.
  2. 2
    Ellipsis of duckweed.
  3. 3
    Underbrush; low shrubs.
  4. 4
    A drug or the like made from the leaves of a plant.
  5. 5
    A drug or the like made from the leaves of a plant.
  6. 6
    A drug or the like made from the leaves of a plant.
  7. 7
    A weak horse, which is therefore unfit to breed from.
  8. 8
    A puny person; one who has little physical strength.
  9. 9
    Something unprofitable or troublesome; anything useless.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. If it isn't in a straight line or marked with a label, it's a weed.
  2. The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common.

Etymology

From Middle English weed, weod, from Old English wēod (“weed”), from Proto-West Germanic *weud (“weed”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Jood (“weed”), West Frisian wjûd (“weed”), Dutch wied (“unwanted plant, weed”), German Low German Weed (“weed”), Old High German wiota (“fern”). See also woad.

This word in other languages

mala hierba(Español)mauvaise herbe(Français)Unkraut(Deutsch)mato(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ewed
  • wede
  • weedd
  • wweed

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of weed - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ewed2wede2weedd1wweed1
Edit distance from "weed"

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 "weed"?
"weed" is spelled W-E-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /wiːd/.
What does "weed" mean?
As a noun, "weed" means: Any plant unwanted at the place where and at the time when it is growing.
What words are commonly confused with "weed"?
"weed" is commonly confused with "wet", "WWE", "Wes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "weed"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "weed" is /wiːd/. 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 "weed"?
From Middle English weed, weod, from Old English wēod (“weed”), from Proto-West Germanic *weud (“weed”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Jood (“weed”), West Frisian wjûd (“weed”), Dutch wied (“unwanted plant, weed”), German Low German Weed (“weed”)... 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 "weed", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tune#4,563bold#4,579clip#4,586mars#4,538

What to do next

You've looked up "weed". Here's where to go from here.

  • "weed" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "wet". View pair
  • 4 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #4,566 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "W" letter cohort. W–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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