wood

/wʊd/

//wʊd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“wood” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,743 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,743
frequency rank, English
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The substance making up the central part of the trunk and branches of a tree. Used as a material for construction, to manufacture various items, etc. or as fuel.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

wood vs wow
50% similar
wood vs WTO
0% similar
wood vs wot
50% similar

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

Key facts for wood
PropertyValue
Headwordwood
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/wʊd/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,743
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “wood” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). wood lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for wood is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /wʊd/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,743 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for wood, with forms such as "owod", "wod", and "wodo". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wow", "WTO", "wot", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English wode, from Old English wudu, widu (“wood, forest, grove; tree; timber”), from Proto-West Germanic *widu, from Proto-Germanic *widuz (“wood”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate”). The spelling developed a… The correct English form is wood, spelled W-O-O-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    The substance making up the central part of the trunk and branches of a tree. Used as a material for construction, to manufacture various items, etc. or as fuel.
  2. 2
    The wood from a particular species of tree.
  3. 3
    A forested or wooded area.
  4. 4
    Firewood.
  5. 5
    A type of golf club, the head of which was traditionally made of wood.
  6. 6
    A woodwind instrument.
  7. 7
    An erection of the penis.
  8. 8
    Chess pieces.

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English wode, from Old English wudu, widu (“wood, forest, grove; tree; timber”), from Proto-West Germanic *widu, from Proto-Germanic *widuz (“wood”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate”). The spelling developed as it did in wool. Cognate with Dutch wede (“wood, twig”), Middle High German wite (“wood”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Swedish ved (“wood”), Elfdalian wið (“wood, timber”), Faroese, Icelandic viður (“wood”), Norwegian Nynorsk ved (“wood, firewood”), vid (“wide, broad”). Further cognates include Irish fiodh (“a wood, tree”), Irish fid (“tree”) and Welsh gwŷdd (“trees”), from Proto-Celtic *widus (“wood”). Unrelated to Dutch woud (“forest”), German Wald (“forest”) (see English wold).

Synonyms

timberwood lot

This word in other languages

madera(Español)bois(Français)Holz(Deutsch)madeira(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: owod,wod,wodo,woodd,wwood

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

owod2wod1wodo2woodd1wwood1
Edit distance from "wood"

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 "wood"?
"wood" is spelled W-O-O-D. The IPA pronunciation is /wʊd/.
What does "wood" mean?
As a noun, "wood" means: The substance making up the central part of the trunk and branches of a tree. Used as a material for construction, to manufacture various items, etc. or as fuel.
What words are commonly confused with "wood"?
"wood" is commonly confused with "wow", "WTO", "wot". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wood"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wood" is /wʊd/. 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 "wood"?
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English wode, from Old English wudu, widu (“wood, forest, grove; tree; timber”), from Proto-West Germanic *widu, from Proto-Germanic *widuz (“wood”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate”). The spelling d... 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.

Using “wood”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is W-O-O-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /wʊd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “wow” - see the side-by-side comparison. wood vs wow
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list