cabin
/ˈkæbɪn/
"cabin" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cabin” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,765 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,765
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small dwelling characteristic of the frontier, especially when built from logs with simple tools and not constructed by professional builders, but by those who meant to live in it.
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 | cabin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæbɪn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #5,765 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cabin” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cabin is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkæbɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,765 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 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 cabin, with forms such as "acbin", "cabbin", and "cabinn". 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, "can", "Cai", "coin", 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 caban, cabane, from Old French cabane, from Medieval Latin capanna (“a cabin”); see further etymology there. Doublet of cabana and cabane. The correct English form is cabin, spelled C-A-B-I-N.
Definition
- 1A small dwelling characteristic of the frontier, especially when built from logs with simple tools and not constructed by professional builders, but by those who meant to live in it.
- 2A chalet or lodge, especially one that can hold large groups of people.
- 3A private room on a ship.
- 4The interior of a boat, enclosed to create a small room, particularly for sleeping.
- 5The passenger area of an airplane.
- 6The section of a passenger plane having the same class of service.
- 7A signal box.
- 8A small room; an enclosed place.
- 9A private office; particularly of a doctor, businessman, lawyer, or other professional.
Etymology
From Middle English caban, cabane, from Old French cabane, from Medieval Latin capanna (“a cabin”); see further etymology there. Doublet of cabana and cabane.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acbin,cabbin,cabinn,cabni,caibn,cbain,ccabin
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cabin - 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 “cabin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-B-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkæbɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “can” - see the side-by-side comparison. cabin vs can
- 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.