Lisbon
/ˈlɪzbən/
"lisbon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Lisbon” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,272 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #12,272
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A port city on the Iberian Peninsula, at the mouth of the Tagus River on the Atlantic Ocean; the capital city of Portugal.
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 | Lisbon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɪzbən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #12,272 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Lisbon” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Lisbon is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɪzbən/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,272 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1A port city on the Iberian Peninsula, at the mouth of the Tagus River on the Atlantic Ocean; the capital city of Portugal.
- 2A district of Portugal around the capital.
- 3The Portuguese government.
- 4A city, the county seat of Ransom County, North Dakota, United States.
- 5A village, the county seat of Columbiana County, Ohio, United States.
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
This word in other languages
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.
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"?
What does "Lisbon" mean?
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Using “Lisbon”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-I-S-B-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɪzbən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “listen” - see the side-by-side comparison. Lisbon vs listen
- 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.