avenue
/ˈæv.əˌnjuː/
"avenue" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“avenue” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,406 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,406
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A broad street, especially one bordered by trees or, in cities laid out in a grid pattern, one that is on a particular side of the city or that runs in a particular direction.
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 | avenue |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæv.əˌnjuː/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #3,406 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “avenue” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for avenue is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæv.əˌnjuː/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,406 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for avenue, with forms such as "aevnue", "aveneu", and "avennue". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "averse", "avenge", "avenger", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French avenue, from Old French avenue, feminine past participle of avenir (“approach”), from Latin adveniō, advenīre (“come to”, from ad (“to”) + veniō, venīre (“come”)). The correct English form is avenue, spelled A-V-E-N-U-E.
Definition
- 1A broad street, especially one bordered by trees or, in cities laid out in a grid pattern, one that is on a particular side of the city or that runs in a particular direction.
- 2A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may be reached; a way of approach or of exit.
- 3The principal walk or approach to a house which is withdrawn from the road, especially, such approach bordered on each side by trees; any broad passageway thus bordered.
- 4A method or means by which something may be accomplished.
Etymology
Borrowed from French avenue, from Old French avenue, feminine past participle of avenir (“approach”), from Latin adveniō, advenīre (“come to”, from ad (“to”) + veniō, venīre (“come”)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aevnue,aveneu,avennue,aveune,avneue,avvenue,vaenue
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of avenue - 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 “avenue”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-V-E-N-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæv.əˌnjuː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “averse” - see the side-by-side comparison. avenue vs averse
- 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.