city

Name: city, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈsɪt.i/

//ˈsɪt.i// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“city” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #217. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#217
frequency rank, English: 5,599
“C” headwords: 6
tracked misspellings: 20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.

Corpus desk

Index EN-city · city · English

city · rank #217 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

FREQ-CORE #217
LEN-MID 4 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
VAR-MID 6 variants
BOOK-DENSE 5,599
PHOTO-FINISH number

Nearest frequency peer: number (-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.

away

99,787
left

99,786
number

99,785
city

99,784
days

99,783
lot

99,782

What this shows Bars show where “city” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

city vs CT

0% similar

city vs cut

50% similar

city vs cry

50% similar

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

Key facts for city
Property	Value
Headword	city
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈsɪt.i/
Letters	4
Frequency rank	#217
Misspellings tracked	6
Confusable pairs	20
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “city” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). city lands here:

#217

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around city (IPA /ˈsɪt.i/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #217 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for city, with forms such as "ccity", "citty", and "cityy". 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, "CT", "cut", "cry", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English cite, derived from Old French cite, derived from Late Latin cīvitātem (“city”), in Classical Latin "citizenry", derived from cīvis (“fellow-citizen”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“lie down; settle”). Cognate with… The correct English form is city, spelled C-I-T-Y.

Definition

1
A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.
2
A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.
3
The central business district; downtown.
4
A large amount of something (used after the noun).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

São Paulo is the largest city in South America.
Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English cite, derived from Old French cite, derived from Late Latin cīvitātem (“city”), in Classical Latin "citizenry", derived from cīvis (“fellow-citizen”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“lie down; settle”). Cognate with Old English hīwan pl (“members of one's household, servants”). See hewe. Doublet of civitas. Mostly displaced native Old English burg, whence Modern English borough.

Synonyms

city

Antonyms

town village

This word in other languages

ciudad(Español)ville(Français)Stadt(Deutsch)cidade(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

ccity
citty
cityy
ciyt
ctiy
icty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "city"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "city"?

"city" is spelled C-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɪt.i/.

What does "city" mean?

As a noun, "city" means: A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.

What words are commonly confused with "city"?

"city" is commonly confused with "CT", "cut", "cry". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "city"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "city" is /ˈsɪt.i/. 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 "city"?

Inherited from Middle English cite, derived from Old French cite, derived from Late Latin cīvitātem (“city”), in Classical Latin "citizenry", derived from cīvis (“fellow-citizen”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“lie down; settle”). Co... 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 "city", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

days#218 left#215 away#214 name#220

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

play6 variants show6 variants must6 variants next6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "city". Here's where to go from here.

"city" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "CT". View pair
6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
Usage frequency rank #217 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.