# wharf

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈwɔːf/ · frequency rank #15,550

## Definitions
1. An artificial landing place for ships on a riverbank or shore.
2. Any bank of a river or shore of a sea.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną
Proto-West Germanic *hwerban
Old English hweorfan
Middle English wharf
English wharf
From Middle English wharf, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft and Warft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), and Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “wrist”).

## Easily confused with
- **what** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-what)
- **where** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-where)
- **whats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-whats)
- **whore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-whore)
- **whiff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-whiff)
- **whirl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-whirl)
- **whorl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-whorl)
- **war** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/war-vs-wharf)
- **wha** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wha-vs-wharf)
- **wear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wear-vs-wharf)
- **warm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/warm-vs-wharf)
- **wars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wars-vs-wharf)
- **ward** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ward-vs-wharf)
- **warn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/warn-vs-wharf)
- **warp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/warp-vs-wharf)
- **wary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wary-vs-wharf)
- **ware** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ware-vs-wharf)
- **wham** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wham-vs-wharf)
- **wart** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wart-vs-wharf)
- **wears** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wears-vs-wharf)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hwarf`, `wahrf`, `whafr`, `wharff`, `wharrf`, `whharf`, `whraf`, `wwharf`

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