Lisbon

/ˈlɪzbən/

//ˈlɪzbən// name

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

"lisbon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Lisbon” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,272. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#12,272
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A port city on the Iberian Peninsula, at the mouth of the Tagus River on the Atlantic Ocean; the capital city of Portugal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lisbon · Lisbon · English

Lisbon · rank #12,272 · 9 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #12,272
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH lever

Nearest frequency peer: lever (-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 “Lisbon”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “Lisbon” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Lisbon vs listen
50% similar
Lisbon vs Liston
83% similar
Lisbon vs lion
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Lisbon
PropertyValue
HeadwordLisbon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈlɪzbən/
Letters6
Frequency rank#12,272
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Lisbon”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Lisbonlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “lever” (#12,271), “lu” (#12,273), “lender” (#12,269). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “Lisbon” is #12,272. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Lisbon (IPA /ˈlɪzbən/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #12,272 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Lisbon, with forms such as "ilsbon", "libson", and "lisbbon". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "listen", "Liston", "lion", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: As the capital of Portugal, from French Lisbonne, from Arabic لِشْبُونَة (lišbūna), from Latin Olisīpō, the origin of which is uncertain. Older spellings include Ulixbona and Ulixbuna (in the Visigothic era); Ὀλισσιπών (Olissipṓn) or Ὀλισσιπόνα (Olissipóna)… The correct English form is Lisbon, spelled L-I-S-B-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A port city on the Iberian Peninsula, at the mouth of the Tagus River on the Atlantic Ocean; the capital city of Portugal.
  2. 2
    A district of Portugal around the capital.
  3. 3
    The Portuguese government.
  4. 4
    A city, the county seat of Ransom County, North Dakota, United States.
  5. 5
    A village, the county seat of Columbiana County, Ohio, United States.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. We see documentary footage (the trudging homeless) and an animated map—an inky line movies from Paris to Marseilles, from there to Oran, and finally to Casablanca, where the lucky ones escape via Lisbon and the rest “wait…and wait…and wait.”

Etymology

As the capital of Portugal, from French Lisbonne, from Arabic لِشْبُونَة (lišbūna), from Latin Olisīpō, the origin of which is uncertain. Older spellings include Ulixbona and Ulixbuna (in the Visigothic era); Ὀλισσιπών (Olissipṓn) or Ὀλισσιπόνα (Olissipóna) (by Greek writers), Olisippo (by Pliny the Elder), and Ulyssippo (by Pomponius Mela of Hispania), the last of which relates to the first-century Roman folk etymology that it was founded by and named after Ulysses; another common folk etymology is the Phoenician 𐤏𐤋𐤉𐤑 𐤏𐤁𐤀 (ʿlyṣ ʿbʾ /⁠ʿaliṣ-ʿuboʾ⁠/, “safe harbour”), but there is not much evidence for such words. Another possibility, based on hydronymy of the area, derives the name from Paleo-Hispanic's appellation for the Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. In other senses, with reference to the Portuguese city.

Synonyms

OlisipoLisboaNew Lisbon

This word in other languages

Lisboa(Español)Lisbonne(Français)Lissabon(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ilsbon
  • libson
  • lisbbon
  • lisbno
  • lisbonn
  • lisobn
  • lissbon
  • llisbon
  • lsibon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Lisbon - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ilsbon2libson2lisbbon1lisbno2lisbonn1lisobn2lissbon1llisbon1
Edit distance from "Lisbon"

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 "Lisbon"?
"Lisbon" is spelled L-I-S-B-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈlɪzbən/.
What does "Lisbon" mean?
As a proper noun, "Lisbon" means: A port city on the Iberian Peninsula, at the mouth of the Tagus River on the Atlantic Ocean; the capital city of Portugal.
What words are commonly confused with "Lisbon"?
"Lisbon" is commonly confused with "listen", "Liston", "lion". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Lisbon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Lisbon" is /ˈlɪzbən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Lisbon"?
As the capital of Portugal, from French Lisbonne, from Arabic لِشْبُونَة (lišbūna), from Latin Olisīpō, the origin of which is uncertain. Older spellings include Ulixbona and Ulixbuna (in the Visigothic era); Ὀλισσιπών (Olissipṓn) or Ὀλισσιπόνα (O... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "Lisbon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lender#12,269Morton#12,277Knicks#12,265kitten#12,264

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

mileage9 variantsmutant9 variantsfleeing9 variantsEcuador9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list