wind
/ˈwɪnd/
"wind" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wind” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,547. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,547
- frequency rank, English
- 1,759
- “W” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wind · wind · English
wind · rank #1,547 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,547
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,759
- PHOTO-FINISH twice
Nearest frequency peer: twice (-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 “wind”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Thomas
Thomas
98,457 corpus weight
- traditional
traditional
98,456 corpus weight
- twice
twice
98,455 corpus weight
- wind
wind
98,454 corpus weight
- worry
worry
98,453 corpus weight
- 1st
1st
98,452 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “wind” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wind |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɪnd/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #1,547 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wind” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around wind (IPA /ˈwɪnd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,547 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 18 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for wind, with forms such as "iwnd", "widn", and "windd". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "won", "wit", "wis", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind (“wind”), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥tos (“wind”), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“wind”), derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁- (… The correct English form is wind, spelled W-I-N-D.
Definition
- 1Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure.
- 2Air artificially put in motion by any force or action.
- 3The ability to breathe easily.
- 4News of an event, especially by hearsay or gossip.
- 5A tendency or trend.
- 6One of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans; air.
- 7One of the five basic elements in Indian and Japanese models of the Classical elements.
- 8Flatus.
- 9Breath modulated by the respiratory and vocal organs, or by an instrument.
- 10The woodwind section of an orchestra. Occasionally also used to include the brass section.
- 11A woodwind instrument. Occasionally also used to describe a brass instrument.
- 12A direction from which the wind may blow; a point of the compass; especially, one of the cardinal points.
- 13Types of playing-tile in the game of mah-jongg, named after the four winds.
- 14A disease of sheep, in which the intestines are distended with air, or rather affected with a violent inflammation. It occurs immediately after shearing.
- 15Mere breath or talk; empty effort; idle words.
- 16A bird, the dotterel.
- 17The region of the solar plexus, where a blow may paralyze the diaphragm and cause temporary loss of breath or other injury.
- 18Ellipsis of wind power (“source of electricity”)
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how wind appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The wind blew through her hair as she stood on the deck of the ship.
As they accelerated onto the motorway, the wind tore the plywood off the car's roof-rack.
Etymology
From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind (“wind”), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥tos (“wind”), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“wind”), derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”). Cognates Cognate with Yola weend, wyeene (“wind”), North Frisian win, winj (“wind”), Saterland Frisian Wíend (“wind”), West Frisian wyn (“wind”), Alemannic German wend, wind, winn, wénn (“wind”), Bavarian bint, Wind (“wind”), Cimbrian, Mòcheno bint (“wind”), Dutch wind (“wind”), German, German Low German Wind (“wind”), Luxembourgish Wand (“wind”), Yiddish ווינט (vint, “wind”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish vind (“wind”), Faroese, Icelandic vindur (“wind”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍃 (winds, “wind”), Latin ventus (“wind”), Welsh gwynt (“wind”), Sanskrit वात (vā́ta, “wind”), Russian ве́тер (véter, “wind”), perhaps Albanian bundë (“strong damp wind”). Doublet of athlete, vent, weather and nirvana.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- iwnd
- widn
- windd
- winnd
- wnid
- wwind
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wind - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wind", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "wind". Here's where to go from here.
- "wind" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "won". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #1,547 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.