wound

/wuːnd/

//wuːnd// noun

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

"wound" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wound” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,814. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,814
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An injury, such as a cut, stab, or tear, to a (usually external) part of the body.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wound · wound · English

wound · rank #4,814 · 7 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,814
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH wider

Nearest frequency peer: wider (-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 “wound”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “wound” 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).

wound vs wounds
83% similar
wound vs wounded
71% similar
wound vs won
60% similar

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

Key facts for wound
PropertyValue
Headwordwound
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/wuːnd/
Letters5
Frequency rank#4,814
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “wound”

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).woundlands 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 “wider” (#4,813), “Aaron” (#4,815), “warrant” (#4,812). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “wound” is #4,814. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around wound (IPA /wuːnd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,814 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for wound, with forms such as "owund", "wonud", and "woudn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "wounds", "wounded", "won", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Noun from Middle English wund, from Old English wund, from Proto-Germanic *wundō. Verb from Middle English wunden, from Old English wundian, from Proto-Germanic *wundōną. The correct English form is wound, spelled W-O-U-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    An injury, such as a cut, stab, or tear, to a (usually external) part of the body.
  2. 2
    A hurt to a person's feelings, reputation, prospects, etc.
  3. 3
    An injury to a person by which the skin is divided or its continuity broken.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The visitors were without Wayne Rooney after he suffered a head wound in training, which also keeps him out of England's World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.
  2. Showers of blood / Rained from the wounds of slaughtered Englishmen.

Etymology

Noun from Middle English wund, from Old English wund, from Proto-Germanic *wundō. Verb from Middle English wunden, from Old English wundian, from Proto-Germanic *wundōną.

Synonyms

injurylesionslightslurinsult

This word in other languages

herida(Español)blessure(Français)Wunde(Deutsch)ferimento(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • owund
  • wonud
  • woudn
  • woundd
  • wounnd
  • wuond
  • wwound

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

owund2wonud2woudn2woundd1wounnd1wuond2wwound1
Edit distance from "wound"

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 "wound"?
"wound" is spelled W-O-U-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is /wuːnd/.
What does "wound" mean?
As a noun, "wound" means: An injury, such as a cut, stab, or tear, to a (usually external) part of the body.
What words are commonly confused with "wound"?
"wound" is commonly confused with "wounds", "wounded", "won". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wound"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wound" is /wuːnd/. 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 "wound"?
Noun from Middle English wund, from Old English wund, from Proto-Germanic *wundō. Verb from Middle English wunden, from Old English wundian, from Proto-Germanic *wundōną. 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 "wound", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Aaron#4,815wider#4,813asset#4,821toxic#4,807

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

tunnel7 variantsbaker7 variantsSusan7 variantscasual7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list