gangway
/ˈɡæŋweɪ/
"gangway" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gangway” is an uncommon English word, ranked #52,341 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #52,341
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A passageway through which to enter or leave.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gangway |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡæŋweɪ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #52,341 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gangway” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gangway is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡæŋweɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #52,341 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
gangway has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English gangway, from Old English gangweġ (“passageway; thoroughfare”), equivalent to gang + way. Related to Dutch gang (“hallway”) and Norwegian gang (“hallway”). The correct English form is gangway, spelled G-A-N-G-W-A-Y.
Definition
- 1A passageway through which to enter or leave.
- 2A passageway through which to enter or leave.
- 3A passageway through which to enter or leave.
- 4An articulating bridge or ramp, such as from land to a dock or a ship.
- 5A passage along either side of a ship's upper deck.
- 6A passage through the side of a ship or an opening in the railing through which the ship may be boarded; (also in later use) a jet bridge.
- 7A temporary passageway, such as one made of planks.
- 8A clear path through a crowd or a passageway with people.
- 9An earthen and plank ramp leading from the stable yard into the upper storey or mow of a dairy barn.
Etymology
From Middle English gangway, from Old English gangweġ (“passageway; thoroughfare”), equivalent to gang + way. Related to Dutch gang (“hallway”) and Norwegian gang (“hallway”).
This word in other languages
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 “gangway”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-A-N-G-W-A-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡæŋweɪ/ (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.