greengage
/ˈɡɹiːnɡeɪd͡ʒ/
"greengage" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“greengage” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A plum cultivar with greenish-yellow flesh and skin, Prunus domestica subsp. italica var. claudiana.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | greengage |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡɹiːnɡeɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “greengage” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for greengage is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡɹiːnɡeɪd͡ʒ/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A plum cultivar with greenish-yellow flesh and skin, Prunus domestica subsp. italica var. claudiana.".
greengage doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: By surface analysis, green + gage. See alternative etymology below, as this is incorrect: the etymology for gage is a back-formation from greengage. alternative etymology The legend goes that Sir William Gage, 2nd Baronet of Hengrave, (c. 1656–1727), had a … The correct English form is greengage, spelled G-R-E-E-N-G-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1A plum cultivar with greenish-yellow flesh and skin, Prunus domestica subsp. italica var. claudiana.
Etymology
By surface analysis, green + gage. See alternative etymology below, as this is incorrect: the etymology for gage is a back-formation from greengage. alternative etymology The legend goes that Sir William Gage, 2nd Baronet of Hengrave, (c. 1656–1727), had a shipment of plums from France, in which the labels of the reine-claude got lost, by which reason his gardener called it after his master. Horticulturist Peter Collinson reports in his notes edited by L. W. Dillwyn in 1843, page 60: I was on a visit to Sir William Gage, at Hengrave, near Bury; he was then near 70; he told me that he first brought over, from France, the Grosse reine Claude, and introduced it into England, and in compliment to him the Plum was called the Green Gage; this was about the year 1725. Contrary to the common story however here the French name is known to the baronet, and it could consequentially completely be a running joke, in that he exploited a coincidental likeness of his name to a plant name to become part of history. An older term denoting the very same plum cultivar, which ultimately derives from the Near East, via the Sublime Porte under Kanuni Süleyman, is found in Persian گوجه سبز (gowje sabz)
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "greengage"?
What does "greengage" mean?
How do you pronounce "greengage"?
What is the origin of the word "greengage"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “greengage”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-R-E-E-N-G-A-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡɹiːnɡeɪd͡ʒ/ (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.