burgh

/ˈbʌɹə/

//ˈbʌɹə// noun

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

"burgh" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“burgh” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,413. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,413
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - a small mound, often used in reference to tumuli (mostly restricted to place names).

Corpus desk

Index EN-burgh · burgh · English

burgh · rank #34,413 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,413
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH cacao

Nearest frequency peer: cacao (+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 “burgh”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “burgh” 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).

burgh vs burn
60% similar
burgh vs bush
60% similar
burgh vs bury
60% similar

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

Key facts for burgh
PropertyValue
Headwordburgh
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbʌɹə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#34,413
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “burgh”

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).burghlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “cacao” (#34,414), “Broughton” (#34,411), “Broderick” (#34,410). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “burgh” is #34,413. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around burgh (IPA /ˈbʌɹə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #34,413 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for burgh, with forms such as "bburgh", "brugh", and "bugrh". 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, "burn", "bush", "bury", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“city, stronghold”). Cognate with Dutch burg, French bourg, German Burg, Persian برج (borj, “tower; battlement, fort”), Swedis… The correct English form is burgh, spelled B-U-R-G-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    a small mound, often used in reference to tumuli (mostly restricted to place names).
  2. 2
    a borough or chartered town (now only used as an official subdivision in Scotland).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 1815, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Book Eighth, The Parsonage, lines 95-104, http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww405.html With fruitless pains / Might one like me 'now' visit many a tract / Which, in his youth, he trod, and trod again, / A lone pedestrian with a scanty freight, / Wished-for, or welcome, wheresoe'er he came— / Among the tenantry of thorpe…
  2. This road leads to the burgh and castle of Harfang, where dwell the gentle giants.

Etymology

From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“city, stronghold”). Cognate with Dutch burg, French bourg, German Burg, Persian برج (borj, “tower; battlement, fort”), Swedish borg. Doublet of borough, Brough, and Bury.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bburgh
  • brugh
  • bugrh
  • burggh
  • burghh
  • burhg
  • burrgh
  • ubrgh

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bburgh1brugh2bugrh2burggh1burghh1burhg2burrgh1ubrgh2
Edit distance from "burgh"

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 "burgh"?
"burgh" is spelled B-U-R-G-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbʌɹə/.
What does "burgh" mean?
As a noun, "burgh" means: a small mound, often used in reference to tumuli (mostly restricted to place names).
What words are commonly confused with "burgh"?
"burgh" is commonly confused with "burn", "bush", "bury". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "burgh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "burgh" is /ˈbʌɹə/. 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 "burgh"?
From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“city, stronghold”). Cognate with Dutch burg, French bourg, German Burg, Persian برج (borj, “tower; battlement, fort... 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 "burgh", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cacao#34,414briar#34,408caper#34,418carer#34,420

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

chock8 variantscoerce8 variantsArafat8 variantsdahlia8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list