barbican

/ˈbɑːbɪkən/

//ˈbɑːbɪkən// noun

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

"barbican" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“barbican” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #44,079. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#44,079
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A tower at the entrance to a castle or fortified town.

Corpus desk

Index EN-barbican · barbican · English

barbican · rank #44,079 · 12 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #44,079
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH barbell

Nearest frequency peer: barbell (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “barbican”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “barbican” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for barbican
PropertyValue
Headwordbarbican
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɑːbɪkən/
Letters8
Frequency rank#44,079
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “barbican”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).barbicanlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “barbell” (#44,078), “Baskin” (#44,080), “balsam” (#44,075). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “barbican” is #44,079. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around barbican (IPA /ˈbɑːbɪkən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #44,079 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for barbican, with forms such as "abrbican", "babrican", and "barbbican". 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. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French barbacane, of uncertain origin: compare Arabic بَرْبَخ (barbaḵ, “aqueduct, sewer”), and Persian بابخانه (bâb-xâne, “gatehouse”). The correct English form is barbican, spelled B-A-R-B-I-C-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A tower at the entrance to a castle or fortified town.
  2. 2
    A fortress at the end of a bridge.
  3. 3
    An opening in the wall of a fortress through which the guns are levelled; a narrow loophole through which arrows and other missiles may be shot.
  4. 4
    A temporary wooden tower built for defensive purposes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Near-synonym: guardhouse
  2. The stone part of the drawbridge with its barbican and the bartizans of the gatehouse are in good repair. […] There was a large hidden trapdoor in the floor of the barbican, which would let them into the moat after all.

Etymology

From Old French barbacane, of uncertain origin: compare Arabic بَرْبَخ (barbaḵ, “aqueduct, sewer”), and Persian بابخانه (bâb-xâne, “gatehouse”).

This word in other languages

barbacana(Español)barbacane(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abrbican
  • babrican
  • barbbican
  • barbcian
  • barbiacn
  • barbicann
  • barbiccan
  • barbicna
  • baribcan
  • barrbican
  • bbarbican
  • brabican

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of barbican - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

abrbican2babrican2barbbican1barbcian2barbiacn2barbicann1barbiccan1barbicna2
Edit distance from "barbican"

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 "barbican"?
"barbican" is spelled B-A-R-B-I-C-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɑːbɪkən/.
What does "barbican" mean?
As a noun, "barbican" means: A tower at the entrance to a castle or fortified town.
What are common misspellings of "barbican"?
Common misspellings include "abrbican", "babrican", "barbbican", "barbcian", "barbiacn". The correct spelling is "barbican".
How do you pronounce "barbican"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "barbican" is /ˈbɑːbɪkən/. 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 "barbican"?
From Old French barbacane, of uncertain origin: compare Arabic بَرْبَخ (barbaḵ, “aqueduct, sewer”), and Persian بابخانه (bâb-xâne, “gatehouse”). 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 "barbican", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

babyface#44,072boniface#44,092ambrosia#44,056Alasdair#44,048

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

biodiesel12 variantsamericano12 variantscloseted12 variantsconfound12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list