weft

/wɛft/

//wɛft// noun

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

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

The verdict

“weft” is uncommon English (frequency #56,529 among 1,759 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,529
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The horizontal threads that are interlaced through the warp in a woven fabric.

Corpus desk

Index EN-weft · weft · English

weft · rank #56,529 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,529
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH Walford

Nearest frequency peer: Walford (-2 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.

Long-tail ranks near “weft”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “weft” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for weft
PropertyValue
Headwordweft
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/wɛft/
Letters4
Frequency rank#56,529
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “weft” in English

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).weftfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Walford” (#56,527), “wellies” (#56,531), “wester” (#56,532). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “weft” is #56,529. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

weft is uncommon English at frequency #56,529 among 1,759 “W” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /wɛft/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for weft, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wefte, from Old English wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban, from Proto-Germanic *webaną. Equivalent to weave + -t (abstract nominal suffix). The correct English form is weft, spelled W-E-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The horizontal threads that are interlaced through the warp in a woven fabric.
  2. 2
    The yarn used for the weft; the fill.
  3. 3
    A hair extension that is glued directly to a person′s natural hair.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. It is all the more remarkable therefore that in one respect — weft colours — some of the pirnless looms are more versatile than conventional machines. Figure 6 shows the colour mechanism of a conventional loom designed to weave six colours of weft (there is never any problem about colour patterning in the warp).
  2. Other techniques for shaping included angling one or both loom bars, adding extra wefts, or adjusting warp tension.

Etymology

From Middle English wefte, from Old English wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban, from Proto-Germanic *webaną. Equivalent to weave + -t (abstract nominal suffix).

Synonyms

wooffillweave

This word in other languages

trama(Español)fil de trame(Français)

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 "weft"?
"weft" is spelled W-E-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /wɛft/.
What does "weft" mean?
As a noun, "weft" means: The horizontal threads that are interlaced through the warp in a woven fabric.
How do you pronounce "weft"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "weft" is /wɛft/. 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 "weft"?
From Middle English wefte, from Old English wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban, from Proto-Germanic *webaną. Equivalent to weave + -t (abstract nominal suffix). 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 "weft", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Tati#56,481taha#56,478bool#56,624sesh#56,426

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list