yaw
/jɔː/noun, verb
yaw is spelled Y-A-W: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, yaw means “The rotation of an aircraft, ship, or missile about its vertical axis so as to cause the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, ship, or missile to…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of yaw is yaws.
How many letters and syllables are in yaw?
| Letters | 3: Y-A-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is yaw?
Yaw appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce yaw?
- /jɔː/
- /jɑː/
- /jɒː/
Yaw has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-yaw.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with yaw
Sounds like: yore, you're, your (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with yaw?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as yaw.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: way.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of yaw
- yaws plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- yawing participle, present
- yawed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does yaw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The rotation of an aircraft, ship, or missile about its vertical axis so as to cause the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, ship, or missile to deviate from the flight line or heading in its horizontal plane.
- 2
The angle between the longitudinal axis of a projectile at any moment and the tangent to the trajectory in the corresponding point of flight of the projectile.
- 3
A vessel's motion rotating about the vertical axis, so the bow yaws from side to side; a characteristic of unsteadiness.
- 4
The extent of yawing; the rotation angle about the vertical axis.
the yaw of an aircraft
- 5
A single tumor in the disease called yaws.
verb
- 1
To turn about the vertical axis while maintaining course.
- 2
To swerve off course to port or starboard.
- 3
To steer badly, zigzagging back and forth across the intended course of a boat; to go out of the line of course.
- 4
To rise in blisters, breaking in white froth, as cane juice in the clarifiers in sugar works.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Yaw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | lacet |
| German | Gieren , Gierwinkel , gieren |
| Portuguese | guinada , guinar |
| Spanish | bandazo, guiñada , pivotar, guiñar , pivote, pívot |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does yaw come from?
Unknown, first attested in the mid-16th century. Perhaps related to yar (“quick, agile”), or alternatively from Old Norse jaga (“to chase, drive, move back and forth”), from Middle Low German jagen (“to hunt, chase, pursue”), from Old Saxon *jagōn, from Proto-West Germanic *jagōn, from Proto-Germanic *jakkōną (“to hunt”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).