English homophones
rumor/rumour
"rumor" (#10,761 written frequency) beats "rumour" (#17,709) in this 2-word /ˈɹuːmə(ɹ)/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /ˈɹuːmə(ɹ)/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "rumor" leads at #10,761, with "rumour" trailing at #17,709.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "rumo" then splits - "rumor" (5 letters) vs "rumour" (6).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across rumor, rumour: moru. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
rumor
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCVC
Inventory moru · no private letters vs siblings
rumour
6 letters · 3 vowels · shape CVCVVC
Inventory moru · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "rumor" when you mean: A statement or claim of questionable accuracy, from no known reliable source, usually spread by word of mouth.
- Write "rumour" when you mean: British, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland spelling of rumor.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (rumor, rumour). Here's where to go from here.
- "rumor" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #10,761 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: roles · rolls. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "rumor, rumour" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.