Kaohsiung
/ˌkaʊ ˈʃjʊŋ/
"kaohsiung" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Kaohsiung” is uncommon English (frequency #58,789 among 9,255 “K” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,789
- frequency rank, English
- 9,255
- “K” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A city and special municipality in southern Taiwan, and the third largest city in Taiwan.
Corpus desk
Index EN-kaohsiung · Kaohsiung · English
Kaohsiung · rank #58,789 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #58,789
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 9,255
- PHOTO-FINISH Kankakee
Nearest frequency peer: Kankakee (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “Kaohsiung”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Jost
Jost
41,216 corpus weight
- Kankakee
Kankakee
41,213 corpus weight
- Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
41,212 corpus weight
- Kash
Kash
41,210 corpus weight
- keke
keke
41,209 corpus weight
- Khaleesi
Khaleesi
41,207 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “Kaohsiung” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Kaohsiung |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˌkaʊ ˈʃjʊŋ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #58,789 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Kaohsiung” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Kaohsiung is uncommon English at frequency #58,789 among 9,255 “K” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˌkaʊ ˈʃjʊŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for Kaohsiung in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 高雄 (Kao¹-hsiung²), from Japanese 高雄 (Takao) (whence also Takao), from Hokkien 打狗 (Tá-káu) (whence also Takau), from Siraya takau (“bamboo forest”). First attested in late 1945. The correct English form is Kaohsiung, spelled K-A-O-H-S-I-U-N-G.
Definition
- 1A city and special municipality in southern Taiwan, and the third largest city in Taiwan.
- 2A former county of Taiwan.
Etymology
Borrowed from Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 高雄 (Kao¹-hsiung²), from Japanese 高雄 (Takao) (whence also Takao), from Hokkien 打狗 (Tá-káu) (whence also Takau), from Siraya takau (“bamboo forest”). First attested in late 1945.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Kaohsiung"?
What does "Kaohsiung" mean?
How do you pronounce "Kaohsiung"?
What is the origin of the word "Kaohsiung"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Kaohsiung", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
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.