wold

/wəʊld/

//wəʊld// noun

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

The verdict

“wold” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #42,997. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#42,997
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wold · wold · English

wold · rank #42,997 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #42,997
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH wisp

Nearest frequency peer: wisp (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “wold”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “wold” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

wold vs won
50% similar
wold vs wow
50% similar
wold vs woo
50% similar

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

Key facts for wold
PropertyValue
Headwordwold
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/wəʊld/
Letters4
Frequency rank#42,997
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “wold”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).woldlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “wisp” (#42,996), “Winnebago” (#42,995), “Xena” (#42,999). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “wold” is #42,997. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around wold (IPA /wəʊld/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #42,997 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for wold, with forms such as "owld", "wlod", and "wodl". 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", "wow", "woo", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wald, wold, from Old English wald, weald (“highland covered with trees, wood, forest”), from Proto-West Germanic *walþu, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *wel(ə)-t-. Doublet of weald. Cognates See also Saterland Fris… The correct English form is wold, spelled W-O-L-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.
  2. 2
    A wood or forest, especially a wooded upland.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Saint Withold footed thrice the ’old; He met the nightmare, and her nine fold;
  2. […]—I came with my cousin, Frank Osbaldistone, there, and I must shew him the way back again to the Hall, or he’ll lose himself in the wolds.

Etymology

From Middle English wald, wold, from Old English wald, weald (“highland covered with trees, wood, forest”), from Proto-West Germanic *walþu, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *wel(ə)-t-. Doublet of weald. Cognates See also Saterland Frisian Woold (“forest”), West Frisian wâld (“forest”), Bavarian Woid (“forest”), Cimbrian balt (“forest”), Dutch woud (“forest”), German Wald (“forest”), German Low German Woold, Woolt (“forest”), Luxembourgish Wal (“forest”), Mòcheno bòlt (“forest”), Yiddish וואַלד (vald, “forest”), Danish vold (“field, meadow”), val (“plain”), Faroese vøllur (“field, lawn”), Icelandic völlur (“field, lawn”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk voll (“field, meadow”), Swedish vall (“field, meadow”), Welsh gwallt (“hair”), Lithuanian váltis (“oat awn”), Serbo-Croatian vlât (“ear (of wheat)”), Ancient Greek λάσιος (lásios, “hairy”)); also the related term weald.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • owld
  • wlod
  • wodl
  • woldd
  • wolld
  • wwold

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wold - 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.

owld2wlod2wodl2woldd1wolld1wwold1
Edit distance from "wold"

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 "wold"?
"wold" is spelled W-O-L-D. The IPA pronunciation is /wəʊld/.
What does "wold" mean?
As a noun, "wold" means: An unforested or deforested plain, a grassland, a moor.
What words are commonly confused with "wold"?
"wold" is commonly confused with "won", "wow", "woo". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wold"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wold" is /wəʊld/. 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 "wold"?
From Middle English wald, wold, from Old English wald, weald (“highland covered with trees, wood, forest”), from Proto-West Germanic *walþu, from Proto-Germanic *walþuz, from Proto-Indo-European *wel(ə)-t-. Doublet of weald. Cognates See also Sate... 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 "wold", 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).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list