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dover

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

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Letters

5 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "dover", 5-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 "dover" 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 "dover" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

Dover is aEnglishname. It means: A town, civil parish (with a town council) and major port in Kent, England, the closest point to France (OS grid ref TR3141). Pronounced /ˈdəʊ.və/. Often confused with dyer and doze.

Key facts for Dover
PropertyValue
HeadwordDover
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechName
IPA/ˈdəʊ.və/
Letters5
Frequency rank#13,502
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for Dover is 5 letters long, classified as aname, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdəʊ.və/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,502 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 38 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for Dover, with forms such as "ddover", "doevr", and "doverr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dyer", "doze", "drove", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old English Dofras, from Latin Dubris, from Brythonic Dubras (“the waters”), from Proto-Celtic *dubros (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (“dark”), from *dʰewb- (“deep”). Compare Tauber. The village in Nova Scotia is likely named after the to… 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 Dover, spelled D-O-V-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A town, civil parish (with a town council) and major port in Kent, England, the closest point to France (OS grid ref TR3141).
  2. 2
    A sea area between this port and France.
  3. 3
    A local government district of Kent, including this town and port.
  4. 4
    A neighbourhood of Abram, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England (OS grid ref SD6001).
  5. 5
    A town in Huon Valley council area, southern Tasmania, Australia.
  6. 6
    A neighborhood of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
  7. 7
    A small fishing and lumber town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; formerly, Shoal Bay and Wellington.
  8. 8
    A village in Nova Scotia, Canada.
  9. 9
    A neighborhood of Singapore.
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    A surname.

Etymology

From Old English Dofras, from Latin Dubris, from Brythonic Dubras (“the waters”), from Proto-Celtic *dubros (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (“dark”), from *dʰewb- (“deep”). Compare Tauber. The village in Nova Scotia is likely named after the town in England.

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddover,doevr,doverr,dovre,dovver,dvoer,odver

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Dover

Misspelling Variants of "Dover"

ddover6doevr5doverr6dovre5dovver6dvoer5odver5
Misspelling Variants of "Dover"

Frequency rank: #13,502 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Dover"?
"Dover" is spelled D-O-V-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdəʊ.və/.
What does "Dover" mean?
As a name, "Dover" means: A town, civil parish (with a town council) and major port in Kent, England, the closest point to France (OS grid ref TR3141).
What words are commonly confused with "Dover"?
"Dover" is commonly confused with "dyer", "doze", "drove". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Dover"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Dover" is /ˈdəʊ.və/. 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 "Dover"?
From Old English Dofras, from Latin Dubris, from Brythonic Dubras (“the waters”), from Proto-Celtic *dubros (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (“dark”), from *dʰewb- (“deep”). Compare Tauber. The village in Nova Scotia is likely named af... 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:

All "D" wordsABCDEFGHIJKL

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