defenceman

noun

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

"defenceman" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“defenceman” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,879. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#37,879
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
15
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In ice hockey and lacrosse, a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals; same as defender in many other ballgames.

Corpus desk

Index EN-defenceman · defenceman · English

defenceman · rank #37,879 · 15 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #37,879
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH decontaminati…

Nearest frequency peer: decontamination (-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 “defenceman”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “defenceman” 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
Key facts for defenceman
PropertyValue
Headworddefenceman
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#37,879
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “defenceman”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).defencemanlands 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 “decontamination” (#37,878), “Delle” (#37,880), “delving” (#37,881). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “defenceman” is #37,879. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around defenceman, anoun. Corpus frequency is #37,879 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "In ice hockey and lacrosse, a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals; same as defender in many other ballgames.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for defenceman, with forms such as "ddefenceman", "deefnceman", and "defecneman". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From defence + -man. The correct English form is defenceman, spelled D-E-F-E-N-C-E-M-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    In ice hockey and lacrosse, a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals; same as defender in many other ballgames.

Etymology

From defence + -man.

This word in other languages

défenseur(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddefenceman
  • deefnceman
  • defecneman
  • defencceman
  • defenceamn
  • defencemann
  • defencemman
  • defencemna
  • defencmean
  • defenecman
  • defennceman
  • deffenceman
  • defneceman
  • dfeenceman
  • edfenceman

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddefenceman1deefnceman2defecneman2defencceman1defenceamn2defencemann1defencemman1defencemna2
Edit distance from "defenceman"

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 "defenceman"?
"defenceman" is spelled D-E-F-E-N-C-E-M-A-N.
What does "defenceman" mean?
As a noun, "defenceman" means: In ice hockey and lacrosse, a player position with a primary responsibility to prevent the opposing team from scoring goals; same as defender in many other ballgames.
What are common misspellings of "defenceman"?
Common misspellings include "ddefenceman", "deefnceman", "defecneman", "defencceman", "defenceamn". The correct spelling is "defenceman".
What is the origin of the word "defenceman"?
From defence + -man. 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 "defenceman", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

conjugated#37,862condolence#37,861collarbone#37,859enthralled#37,912

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

clinching15 variantsfavoritism15 variantsfervently15 variantsappreciable15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list