headquarter

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"headquarter" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“headquarter” is uncommon English (frequency #50,561 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,561
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To provide (an organization) with headquarters.

Corpus desk

Index EN-headquarter · headquarter · English

headquarter · rank #50,561 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,561
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH Headley

Nearest frequency peer: Headley (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “headquarter”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “headquarter” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for headquarter
PropertyValue
Headwordheadquarter
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters11
Frequency rank#50,561
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “headquarter” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).headquarterfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Headley” (#50,560), “headfirst” (#50,559), “heists” (#50,563). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “headquarter” is #50,561. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

headquarter is uncommon English at frequency #50,561 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

headquarter doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. 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.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is headquarter, spelled H-E-A-D-Q-U-A-R-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    To provide (an organization) with headquarters.
  2. 2
    To establish headquarters.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how headquarter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. As the AANHPI population of the United States continued to grow and diversify following the elimination of most race-based restrictions on immigration, the Organization of Chinese Americans also changed to reflect that growing diversity. In 2013, it renamed itself “OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates” to reflect its work on behalf of all AANHPIs. OCA is…

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

How do you spell "headquarter"?
"headquarter" is spelled H-E-A-D-Q-U-A-R-T-E-R.
What does "headquarter" mean?
As a verb, "headquarter" means: To provide (an organization) with headquarters.
What language does "headquarter" come from?
"headquarter" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "headquarter", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

haphazardly#50,554internalize#50,596foodservice#50,516fashionista#50,505

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list