governance
/ˈɡʌvənəns/
"governance" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“governance” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,145 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,145
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 16
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The process, or the power, of governing; government or administration.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | governance |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡʌvənəns/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #6,145 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “governance” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for governance is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡʌvənəns/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,145 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for governance, with forms such as "ggovernance", "goevrnance", and "govenrance". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English governaunce, from Old French gouvernance, governance, equivalent to govern + -ance. The correct English form is governance, spelled G-O-V-E-R-N-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1The process, or the power, of governing; government or administration.
- 2The specific system by which a political system is ruled.
- 3The group of people who make up an administrative body.
- 4The state of being governed.
- 5Accountability for consistent, cohesive policies, processes and decision rights.
Etymology
From Middle English governaunce, from Old French gouvernance, governance, equivalent to govern + -ance.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ggovernance,goevrnance,govenrance,goverannce,governacne,governancce,governanec,governannce,governence,governnace,governnance,goverrnance,govrenance,govvernance,gvoernance,ogvernance
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of governance - 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
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Using “governance”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-O-V-E-R-N-A-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡʌvənəns/ (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.