border

/ˈbɔə.də/

//ˈbɔə.də// noun

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

"border" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“border” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,030. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,030
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The line or frontier area separating political or geographical regions.

Corpus desk

Index EN-border · border · English

border · rank #2,030 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,030
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH beer

Nearest frequency peer: beer (-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 “border”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “border” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

border vs bore
67% similar
border vs bored
67% similar
border vs boxer
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for border
PropertyValue
Headwordborder
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɔə.də/
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,030
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “border”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).borderlands 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 “beer” (#2,029), “Canadian” (#2,031), “arts” (#2,028). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “border” is #2,030. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around border (IPA /ˈbɔə.də/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,030 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for border, with forms such as "bborder", "bodrer", and "bordder". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bore", "bored", "boxer", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English bordure, from Old French bordeure, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *bord, equivalent to modern French bord (“a border”) + -er. Akin to Middle High German borte (“border, trim”), German Borte (“ribbon, trimming”). Doublet of b… The correct English form is border, spelled B-O-R-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    The line or frontier area separating political or geographical regions.
  2. 2
    The outer edge of something.
  3. 3
    A decorative strip around the edge of something.
  4. 4
    A strip of ground in which ornamental plants are grown.
  5. 5
    Border morris or border dancing.
  6. 6
    A string that is both a prefix and a suffix of another particular string.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The border between Canada and USA is the longest in the world.
  2. The identification of the border between England and Scotland always has been a source of interest to railway travellers. For many years, however, the exact points north of Berwick and Carlisle at which the Anglo-Scottish main lines passed from one country to the other were not defined, but the erection of clear and unmistakable lineside signs has put the…

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English bordure, from Old French bordeure, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *bord, equivalent to modern French bord (“a border”) + -er. Akin to Middle High German borte (“border, trim”), German Borte (“ribbon, trimming”). Doublet of bordure. More at board. Further cognate to English board, Old Norse barð (“edge”), Swedish bård (“edge”), also English beard, German Bart (“beard”) (edge of the face) etc.

This word in other languages

frontera(Español)frontière(Français)Grenze(Deutsch)fronteira(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bborder
  • bodrer
  • bordder
  • borderr
  • bordre
  • boredr
  • borrder
  • broder
  • obrder

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of border - 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.

bborder1bodrer2bordder1borderr1bordre2boredr2borrder1broder2
Edit distance from "border"

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 "border"?
"border" is spelled B-O-R-D-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɔə.də/.
What does "border" mean?
As a noun, "border" means: The line or frontier area separating political or geographical regions.
What words are commonly confused with "border"?
"border" is commonly confused with "bore", "bored", "boxer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "border"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "border" is /ˈbɔə.də/. 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 "border"?
Inherited from Middle English bordure, from Old French bordeure, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *bord, equivalent to modern French bord (“a border”) + -er. Akin to Middle High German borte (“border, trim”), German Borte (“ribbon, trimming”). Do... 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 "border", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

afraid#2,027dating#2,035ensure#2,039filled#2,041

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

command9 variantsthey'll9 variantsPowers9 variantsprofit9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list