yaw

/jɔː/

//jɔː// noun

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

"yaw" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“yaw” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #34,355) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#34,355
frequency rank, English
366
“Y” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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 horizo...

Corpus desk

Index EN-yaw · yaw · English

yaw · rank #34,355 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,355
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 366
  • PHOTO-FINISH Wordsworth

Nearest frequency peer: Wordsworth (-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 neighbours of confusable “yaw”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “yaw” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

yaw vs yo
33% similar
yaw vs ye
33% similar
yaw vs yu
33% similar

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

Key facts for yaw
PropertyValue
Headwordyaw
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/jɔː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#34,355
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “yaw”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).yawlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Wordsworth” (#34,354), “wop” (#34,353), “Zia” (#34,357). Among 366 “Y” headwords, “yaw” is #34,355. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for yaw is neighbouring look-alikes ("yo", "ye", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /jɔː/. Frequency #34,355 among 366 “Y” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

yaw doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "yo", "ye", "yu", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 Pro… The correct English form is yaw, spelled Y-A-W.

Definition

  1. 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. 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. 3
    A vessel's motion rotating about the vertical axis, so the bow yaws from side to side; a characteristic of unsteadiness.
  4. 4
    The extent of yawing; the rotation angle about the vertical axis.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. the yaw of an aircraft

Etymology

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”).

This word in other languages

bandazo(Español)lacet(Français)Gieren(Deutsch)

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 "yaw"?
"yaw" is spelled Y-A-W. The IPA pronunciation is /jɔː/.
What does "yaw" mean?
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 deviate from the flight line or heading in its horizo...
What words are commonly confused with "yaw"?
"yaw" is commonly confused with "yo", "ye", "yu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "yaw"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "yaw" is /jɔː/. 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 "yaw"?
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... 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 "yaw", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

wop#34,353Zia#34,357wer#34,347asm#34,384

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list