February
/ˈfɛb.ɹʊ.ə.ɹi/
"february" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“February” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #990 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #990
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The short month following January and preceding March in the Roman, Julian, and Gregorian calendars, used in all three calendars for intercalation or addition of leap days.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | February |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɛb.ɹʊ.ə.ɹi/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #990 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “February” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for February is 8 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɛb.ɹʊ.ə.ɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #990 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for February, with forms such as "efbruary", "fberuary", and "febbruary". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-der. Latin februum Latin Februa Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āsios Latin -arius Latin Februāriusder. Middle English Februarie English February From Middle English Februarie, februari, februare, from… The correct English form is February, spelled F-E-B-R-U-A-R-Y.
Definition
- 1The short month following January and preceding March in the Roman, Julian, and Gregorian calendars, used in all three calendars for intercalation or addition of leap days.
- 2A female given name transferred from the month name [in turn from English].
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-der. Latin februum Latin Februa Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āsios Latin -arius Latin Februāriusder. Middle English Februarie English February From Middle English Februarie, februari, februare, from Latin Februārius (“the month of the Februa”), from Februa (“the Purgings, the Purifications”), a Roman holiday two days after its ides (i.e., Feb. 15), + -arius (“-ary: forming adjectives”). Februa from februum (“purging”), from an earlier Sabine [Term?] word, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke, haze”) and thus cognate with thio- (“sulfurous”) and Ancient Greek θεῖον (theîon, “sulfur”) or from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰris, an extension of the root *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”) and thus cognate with fever and febris. A relatinization abandoning Middle English feoverel, from Old French feverier, which itself displaced Old English solmōnaþ (“mud month”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: efbruary,fberuary,febbruary,febraury,febrruary,februarry,februaryy,februayr,februray,feburary,ferbuary,ffebruary
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of February - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "February"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “February”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-E-B-R-U-A-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɛb.ɹʊ.ə.ɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.