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alexandria

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

10 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "alexandria", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "alexandria" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "alexandria" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

Alexandria is aEnglishname. It means: A city, port, and former capital of Egypt famed for its ancient library and lighthouse. Pronounced /æləkˈzændɹi.ə/. It ranks #9,993 in English word frequency. Often confused with Alexandra and Alexandre.

Key facts for Alexandria
PropertyValue
HeadwordAlexandria
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechName
IPA/æləkˈzændɹi.ə/
Letters10
Frequency rank#9,993
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Alexandria in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for Alexandria is 10 letters long, classified as aname, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /æləkˈzændɹi.ə/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,993 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 35 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for Alexandria, with forms such as "aelxandria", "aleaxndria", and "alexadnria". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Alexandra", "Alexandre", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Alexandria, from Old English Alexandria, from Latin Alexandrīa, from Ancient Greek Ἀλεξάνδρεια (Alexándreia), from Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros, “Alexander”) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming place names”), initially chiefly places founded by Alexan… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is Alexandria, spelled A-L-E-X-A-N-D-R-I-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A city, port, and former capital of Egypt famed for its ancient library and lighthouse.
  2. 2
    Various other former cities in Southwestern Asia founded by Alexander the Great, including
  3. 3
    Various other former cities in Southwestern Asia founded by Alexander the Great, including
  4. 4
    Various other former cities in Southwestern Asia founded by Alexander the Great, including
  5. 5
    Various other former cities in Southwestern Asia founded by Alexander the Great, including
  6. 6
    Various other former cities in Southwestern Asia founded by Alexander the Great, including
  7. 7
    Various other former cities in Southwestern Asia founded by Alexander the Great, including
  8. 8
    Various other former cities in Southwestern Asia founded by Alexander the Great, including
  9. 9
    Alternative form of Alessandria: a city in Piedmont, Italy.
  10. 10
    A governorate of Egypt around the city.
  11. 11
    A number of places in the United States:
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    A former town in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario, Canada; now a part of the township of North Glengarry.
  29. 29
    A suburb of Sydney in the Sydney council area, New South Wales, Australia.
  30. 30
    A ghost town in British Columbia, Canada.
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    A town in Sarah Baartman District Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
  32. 32
    A town in Ehlanzeni District Municipality, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
  33. 33
    A town in West Dunbartonshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS3980).
  34. 34
    A city in Teleorman County, Romania.
  35. 35
    A female given name from Ancient Greek.

Etymology

From Middle English Alexandria, from Old English Alexandria, from Latin Alexandrīa, from Ancient Greek Ἀλεξάνδρεια (Alexándreia), from Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros, “Alexander”) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming place names”), initially chiefly places founded by Alexander the Great of Macedonia and subsequently usually with reference to Alexandria in Egypt, a major Hellenistic cultural center, center of early Christianity, and continuing major international port. Compare Antioch, Seleucia, and Ptolemais. Doublet of Kandahar, Iskenderun, Scandaroon, and Alexandretta.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aelxandria,aleaxndria,alexadnria,alexanddria,alexandira,alexandrai,alexandrria,alexanndria,alexanrdia,alexnadria,alexxandria,allexandria,alxeandria,laexandria

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Alexandria

Misspelling Variants of "Alexandria"

aelxandria10aleaxndria10alexadnria10alexanddria11alexandira10alexandrai10alexandrria11alexanndria11
Misspelling Variants of "Alexandria"

Frequency rank: #9,993 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Alexandria"?
"Alexandria" is spelled A-L-E-X-A-N-D-R-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /æləkˈzændɹi.ə/.
What does "Alexandria" mean?
As a name, "Alexandria" means: A city, port, and former capital of Egypt famed for its ancient library and lighthouse.
What words are commonly confused with "Alexandria"?
"Alexandria" is commonly confused with "Alexandra", "Alexandre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Alexandria"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Alexandria" is /æləkˈzændɹi.ə/. 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 "Alexandria"?
From Middle English Alexandria, from Old English Alexandria, from Latin Alexandrīa, from Ancient Greek Ἀλεξάνδρεια (Alexándreia), from Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros, “Alexander”) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming place names”), initially chiefly places founded... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.