yoke

/jəʊk/

//jəʊk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“yoke” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,982. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,982
frequency rank, English
366
“Y” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Senses relating to a frame around the neck.

Corpus desk

Index EN-yoke · yoke · English

yoke · rank #25,982 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,982
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 366
  • PHOTO-FINISH za

Nearest frequency peer: za (+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 neighbourhood for “yoke”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “yoke” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

yoke vs you
50% similar
yoke vs yoo
50% similar
yoke vs yon
50% similar

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

Key facts for yoke
PropertyValue
Headwordyoke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/jəʊk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#25,982
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “yoke” sits in English frequency

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).yokelands 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 “za” (#25,983), “wronged” (#25,980), “Zuma” (#25,984). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around yoke (IPA /jəʊk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,982 among 366 “Y” headwords. Wiktionary lists 25 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for yoke, with forms such as "oyke", "ykoe", and "yoek". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "you", "yoo", "yon", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English yok, yoke, ȝok from Old English ġeoc (“yoke”), from Proto-Germanic *juką (“yoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”). Doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh. Senses 3.1 (“are… The correct English form is yoke, spelled Y-O-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  2. 2
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  3. 3
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  4. 4
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  5. 5
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  6. 6
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  7. 7
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  8. 8
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  9. 9
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  10. 10
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  11. 11
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  12. 12
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  13. 13
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  14. 14
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  15. 15
    Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
  16. 16
    Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
  17. 17
    Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
  18. 18
    Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
  19. 19
    Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
  20. 20
    Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
  21. 21
    Senses relating to a pair of harnessed draught animals.
  22. 22
    Senses relating to quantities, and other extended uses.
  23. 23
    Senses relating to quantities, and other extended uses.
  24. 24
    Senses relating to quantities, and other extended uses.
  25. 25
    Senses relating to quantities, and other extended uses.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Thy seruant in walking thy pastures aboute: / for yokes, forkes and rakes, let him loke to finde oute. / And after at leyser let this be his hier: / to trimme them and make them at home by the fier.
  2. The Oxe hath therefore ſtretcht his yoake in vaine, / The Ploughman loſt his ſweat, and the greene corne / Hath rotted, ere his youth attainde a bearde: […]

Etymology

From Middle English yok, yoke, ȝok from Old English ġeoc (“yoke”), from Proto-Germanic *juką (“yoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”). Doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh. Senses 3.1 (“area of arable land”) and 3.2 (“amount of work done with draught animals”) probably referred to the area of land that could generally be ploughed by yoked draught animals within a given time.

This word in other languages

yugo(Español)joug(Français)Joch(Deutsch)jugo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oyke
  • ykoe
  • yoek
  • yokke
  • yyoke

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of yoke - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

oyke2ykoe2yoek2yokke1yyoke1
Edit distance from "yoke"

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 "yoke"?
"yoke" is spelled Y-O-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /jəʊk/.
What does "yoke" mean?
As a noun, "yoke" means: Senses relating to a frame around the neck.
What words are commonly confused with "yoke"?
"yoke" is commonly confused with "you", "yoo", "yon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "yoke"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "yoke" is /jəʊk/. 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 "yoke"?
From Middle English yok, yoke, ȝok from Old English ġeoc (“yoke”), from Proto-Germanic *juką (“yoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm (“yoke”), from *yewg- (“to join; to tie together, yoke”). Doublet of yuga, jugum, yoga and possibly yogh. Senses... 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 "yoke", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Zuma#25,984wren#25,979Tran#25,954brie#26,024

Similar misspelling depth

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

Amman5 variantsUConn5 variantsrout5 variantscurrie5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "yoke". Here's where to go from here.

  • "yoke" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "you". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #25,982 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "Y" letter cohort. Y–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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