covering
/ˈkʌvəɹɪŋ/
"covering" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“covering” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,288 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #3,288
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of cover
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 | covering |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈkʌvəɹɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #3,288 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “covering” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for covering is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkʌvəɹɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,288 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "present participle and gerund of cover".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for covering, with forms such as "ccovering", "coevring", and "coveirng". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "cheering", "catering", "coloring", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Present participle or participial adjective from cover (verb) + -ing; or, from Middle English coverynge, participle form of coveren, keveren (“to cover”). The correct English form is covering, spelled C-O-V-E-R-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1present participle and gerund of cover
Etymology
Present participle or participial adjective from cover (verb) + -ing; or, from Middle English coverynge, participle form of coveren, keveren (“to cover”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccovering,coevring,coveirng,coverign,coveringg,coverinng,covernig,coverring,covreing,covvering,cvoering,ocvering
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of covering - 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 "covering"?
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Using “covering”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-V-E-R-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkʌvəɹɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cheering” - see the side-by-side comparison. covering vs cheering
- 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.