Boston

/ˈbɔstən/

//ˈbɔstən// name

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

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

The verdict

“Boston” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,147. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,147
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A town and borough in Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref TF3244).

Corpus desk

Index EN-boston · Boston · English

Boston · rank #2,147 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,147
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH artists

Nearest frequency peer: artists (-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 “Boston”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Boston” 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).

Boston vs Botox
67% similar
Boston vs bottom
50% similar
Boston vs button
50% similar

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

Key facts for Boston
PropertyValue
HeadwordBoston
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈbɔstən/
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,147
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Boston”

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).Bostonlands 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 “artists” (#2,146), “CA” (#2,148), “appropriate” (#2,145). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “Boston” is #2,147. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Boston (IPA /ˈbɔstən/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #2,147 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 29 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Boston, with forms such as "bboston", "bosotn", and "bosston". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Botox", "bottom", "button", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: The US city is named after the English town (from which several prominent colonists had come), which itself is sometimes said to be named as a contraction of Botolph's town or Botolph's stone (the name Botolph itself coming from Old English Botwulf, from bo… The correct English form is Boston, spelled B-O-S-T-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A town and borough in Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref TF3244).
  2. 2
    A number of places in the United States:
  3. 3
    A number of places in the United States:
  4. 4
    A number of places in the United States:
  5. 5
    A number of places in the United States:
  6. 6
    A number of places in the United States:
  7. 7
    A number of places in the United States:
  8. 8
    A number of places in the United States:
  9. 9
    A number of places in the United States:
  10. 10
    A number of places in the United States:
  11. 11
    A number of places in the United States:
  12. 12
    A number of places in the United States:
  13. 13
    A number of places in the United States:
  14. 14
    A number of places in the United States:
  15. 15
    A number of places in the United States:
  16. 16
    A number of places in the United States:
  17. 17
    A number of places in the United States:
  18. 18
    A number of places in the United States:
  19. 19
    A number of places in the United States:
  20. 20
    A town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
  21. 21
    A town in South Australia.
  22. 22
    A municipality of the Philippines.
  23. 23
    A village in County Clare, Ireland.
  24. 24
    A village in Kyrgyzstan.
  25. 25
    A settlement in Belize.
  26. 26
    A settlement in Suriname.
  27. 27
    An eighteenth-century trick-taking card game for four players, with two packs of fifty-two cards each.
  28. 28
    A habitational surname transferred from the place name.
  29. 29
    A male given name transferred from the place name or surname.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. There are faculty advisers on El’s theater crew who balk at using “they” for one person; classmates at El’s public school on the outskirts of Boston who insist El can’t be “multiple people”; and commenters on El’s social media feeds who dismiss nonbinary gender identities like androgyne (a combination of masculine and feminine), agender (the absence of ge…

Etymology

The US city is named after the English town (from which several prominent colonists had come), which itself is sometimes said to be named as a contraction of Botolph's town or Botolph's stone (the name Botolph itself coming from Old English Botwulf, from boda + wulf). However, this is uncertain.

Synonyms

Beantown

This word in other languages

Boston(Español)Boston(Français)Boston(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bboston
  • bosotn
  • bosston
  • bostno
  • bostonn
  • bostton
  • botson
  • bsoton
  • obston

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Boston - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

bboston1bosotn2bosston1bostno2bostonn1bostton1botson2bsoton2
Edit distance from "Boston"

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 "Boston"?
"Boston" is spelled B-O-S-T-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɔstən/.
What does "Boston" mean?
As a proper noun, "Boston" means: A town and borough in Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref TF3244).
What words are commonly confused with "Boston"?
"Boston" is commonly confused with "Botox", "bottom", "button". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Boston"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Boston" is /ˈbɔstən/. 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 "Boston"?
The US city is named after the English town (from which several prominent colonists had come), which itself is sometimes said to be named as a contraction of Botolph's town or Botolph's stone (the name Botolph itself coming from Old English Botwul... 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 "Boston", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

device#2,150appeal#2,143allows#2,142adding#2,140

Similar misspelling depth

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

factor9 variantsgolden9 variantstaught9 variantslawyer9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list