furlong
/ˈfɜːlɒŋ/
"furlong" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“furlong” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #36,993 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #36,993
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile (220 yards, or 201.168 metres), now mainly used in measuring distances in farmland and horse racing.
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 | furlong |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɜːlɒŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #36,993 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “furlong” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for furlong is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɜːlɒŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #36,993 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for furlong, with forms such as "ffurlong", "frulong", and "fulrong". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "furlough", "fueling", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *dlongʰos From Middle English furlong, forlong (“unit of distance about one-eighth of a mile; quantity of land equal to one square furlong; racetrack for foot races; foot race”) [and other forms], from Old English furlang, furlung, from furh (“a f… The correct English form is furlong, spelled F-U-R-L-O-N-G.
Definition
- 1A unit of distance equal to one-eighth of a mile (220 yards, or 201.168 metres), now mainly used in measuring distances in farmland and horse racing.
- 2A unit of land area one furlong (sense 1) square (ten acres, or about four hectares).
- 3An undefined portion of an unenclosed field.
- 4Synonym of stadion (“a Greek unit of distance based on standardized footraces, equivalent to about 185.4 metres”).
- 5Synonym of headland (“unploughed boundary of a field”).
- 6Synonym of land (“the ground left unploughed between furrows”).
- 7Synonym of land (“any of several portions into which a field is divided for ploughing”).
Etymology
PIE word *dlongʰos From Middle English furlong, forlong (“unit of distance about one-eighth of a mile; quantity of land equal to one square furlong; racetrack for foot races; foot race”) [and other forms], from Old English furlang, furlung, from furh (“a furrow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perḱ- (“to dig; to open; to rip up”) + lang (“long”, adjective) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”)), originally the typical length of a furrow in an average field.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ffurlong,frulong,fulrong,furllong,furlnog,furlogn,furlongg,furlonng,furolng,furrlong,ufrlong
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of furlong - 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
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Using “furlong”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-U-R-L-O-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɜːlɒŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “furlough” - see the side-by-side comparison. furlong vs furlough
- 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.