governor
/ˈɡʌv(ə)nə(ɹ)/
"governor" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“governor” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,998. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,998
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The chief executive officer of a first-level administrative division of a country.
Corpus desk
Index EN-governor · governor · English
governor · rank #1,998 · 12 variants · 3 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,998
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
- VAR-MID 12 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH flying
Nearest frequency peer: flying (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “governor”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- fantastic
fantastic
98,006 corpus weight
- feelings
feelings
98,005 corpus weight
- flying
flying
98,004 corpus weight
- governor
governor
98,003 corpus weight
- hasn't
hasn't
98,002 corpus weight
- hundred
hundred
98,001 corpus weight
What this shows “governor” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | governor |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡʌv(ə)nə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,998 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “governor”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around governor (IPA /ˈɡʌv(ə)nə(ɹ)/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,998 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for governor, with forms such as "ggovernor", "goevrnor", and "govenror". 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 also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "governs", "govern", "governed", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English governour, from Old French gouvreneur, from Latin gubernator, from Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman, pilot, guide”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, to drive, to guide, to act as a pilot”), of disputed origin. By surf… The correct English form is governor, spelled G-O-V-E-R-N-O-R.
Definition
- 1The chief executive officer of a first-level administrative division of a country.
- 2A device which regulates or controls some action of a machine through automatic feedback.
- 3A member of a decision-making body (such as a committee) for a larger organization or entity (including some public agencies), similar to or equivalent to a board of directors (used especially for banks); a member of the board of governors.
- 4Father.
- 5Boss; employer; gaffer.
- 6Term of address to a man; guv'nor.
- 7A constituent of a phrase that governs another.
- 8One who has the care or guardianship of a young man; a tutor; a guardian.
- 9A pilot; a steersman.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how governor appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Younger voters are more libertarian in political philosophy than older voters and are credited with the success of libertarian governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota.
Top aides and people close to Kamala Harris have divided over whether she should head home to run for California governor in 2026 — and it all comes down to whether they believe she could win the Democratic nomination for president in an expected competitive primary in 2028.
Etymology
From Middle English governour, from Old French gouvreneur, from Latin gubernator, from Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman, pilot, guide”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, to drive, to guide, to act as a pilot”), of disputed origin. By surface analysis, govern + -or. Doublet of gubernator.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ggovernor
- goevrnor
- govenror
- governnor
- governorr
- governro
- goveronr
- goverrnor
- govrenor
- govvernor
- gvoernor
- ogvernor
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of governor - 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "governor", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).