Alps
/ælps/
"alps" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Alps” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,656 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #13,656
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A mountain range in Western Europe, running from France to Slovenia, the highest peak of which is Mont Blanc, at 4808 metres.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Alps |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ælps/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #13,656 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Alps” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Alps is 4 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ælps/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,656 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A mountain range in Western Europe, running from France to Slovenia, the highest peak of which is Mont Blanc, at 4808 metres.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for Alps, with forms such as "allps", "alpps", and "alpss". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "as", "AP", "ass", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Latin Alpēsder. Middle French Alpesbor. Middle English Alpes English Alps From Middle English Alpes, from Old English Alpis, ultimately from Latin Alpēs; in later use partly via French. Compare German Alpen (“alps”, plurale tantum), German Al… The correct English form is Alps, spelled A-L-P-S.
Definition
- 1A mountain range in Western Europe, running from France to Slovenia, the highest peak of which is Mont Blanc, at 4808 metres.
Etymology
Etymology tree Latin Alpēsder. Middle French Alpesbor. Middle English Alpes English Alps From Middle English Alpes, from Old English Alpis, ultimately from Latin Alpēs; in later use partly via French. Compare German Alpen (“alps”, plurale tantum), German Alp (“mountainous pasture”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: allps,alpps,alpss,alsp,apls
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Alps - 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.
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
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Using “Alps”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-L-P-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ælps/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “as” - see the side-by-side comparison. Alps vs as
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.