château
/ˈʃæ.təʊ/
"chateau" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“château” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,981. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #33,981
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A French castle, fortress, manor house, or large country house.
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 | château |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈʃæ.təʊ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #33,981 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “château” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around château (IPA /ˈʃæ.təʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #33,981 among 43,570 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for château, with forms such as "cchâteau", "chhâteau", and "chtâeau". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Chatham", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Originated 1730–40. Unadapted borrowing from French château, from Old French chastel, from Latin castellum. Doublet of cashel, castell, castellum, and castle. The correct English form is château, spelled C-H-Â-T-E-A-U.
Definition
- 1A French castle, fortress, manor house, or large country house.
- 2Any stately residence imitating a distinctively French castle.
- 3An estate where wine is produced and often bottled, especially in Bordeaux.
Etymology
Originated 1730–40. Unadapted borrowing from French château, from Old French chastel, from Latin castellum. Doublet of cashel, castell, castellum, and castle.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- cchâteau
- chhâteau
- chtâeau
- châetau
- châtaeu
- châteua
- châtteau
- câhteau
- hcâteau
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of château - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "château"?
What does "château" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "château"?
How do you pronounce "château"?
What is the origin of the word "château"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “château”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-Â-T-E-A-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʃæ.təʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Chatham” - see the side-by-side comparison. château vs Chatham
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.