English Word Reference Free

district

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "district", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "district" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "district" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

district is aEnglishnoun. It means: An administrative division of an area. Pronounced /ˈdɪstɹɪkt/. It ranks #967 in English word frequency. Often confused with distrust and districts.

Key facts for district
PropertyValue
Headworddistrict
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdɪstɹɪkt/
Letters8
Frequency rank#967
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of district in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for district is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɪstɹɪkt/. Corpus data places it at rank #967 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 13 documented wrong-spelling variants for district, with forms such as "ddistrict", "disrtict", and "disstrict". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "distrust", "districts", "distinct", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere (“to draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringere (“to draw… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is district, spelled D-I-S-T-R-I-C-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    An administrative division of an area.
  2. 2
    An area or region marked by some distinguishing feature.
  3. 3
    An administrative division of a county without the status of a borough.
  4. 4
    A specific, usually named area of the coalface where particular seams are worked.

Etymology

From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere (“to draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringere (“to draw tight, strain”). Doublet of Detroit.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddistrict,disrtict,disstrict,distirct,distrcit,districct,districtt,distritc,distrrict,disttrict,ditsrict,dsitrict,idstrict

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for district

Misspelling Variants of "district"

ddistrict9disrtict8disstrict9distirct8distrcit8districct9districtt9distritc8
Misspelling Variants of "district"

Frequency rank: #967 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "district"?
"district" is spelled D-I-S-T-R-I-C-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɪstɹɪkt/.
What does "district" mean?
As a noun, "district" means: An administrative division of an area.
What words are commonly confused with "district"?
"district" is commonly confused with "distrust", "districts", "distinct". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "district"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "district" is /ˈdɪstɹɪkt/. 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 "district"?
From French district, from Medieval Latin districtus (“a district within which the lord may distrain, also jurisdiction”), from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere (“to draw asunder, compel, distrain”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringere... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.