London

/ˈlʌn.dən/

//ˈlʌn.dən// name

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

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

The verdict

“London” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #543 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.

#543
frequency rank, English
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London. Situated on the tidal River Thames in southeast England, with a metropolitan population of more than 13,0...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

London vs loon
50% similar
London vs lotion
50% similar
London vs Lyndon
83% similar

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

Key facts for London
PropertyValue
HeadwordLondon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈlʌn.dən/
Letters6
Frequency rank#543
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “London” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). London lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for London is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlʌn.dən/. Corpus data places it at rank #543 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 19 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 London, with forms such as "llondon", "lnodon", and "lodnon". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "loon", "lotion", "Lyndon", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Londoun, from Old English Lunden, from Proto-Celtic via Latin Londinium – see for details. Doublet of Londinium. The correct English form is London, spelled L-O-N-D-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London. Situated on the tidal River Thames in southeast England, with a metropolitan population of more than 13,000,000.
  2. 2
    A former administrative county of England, created in 1889 from parts of Kent, Middlesex and Surrey, and merged into Greater London in 1965.
  3. 3
    The government of the United Kingdom, otherwise known as Westminster.
  4. 4
    A city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a population of approximately 300,000.
  5. 5
    A small agricultural village in the commune of Savigny-sur-Seille, Saône-et-Loire department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, France.
  6. 6
    A village in Kiritimati atoll, Kiribati.
  7. 7
    An urban neighborhood of the city of Belgrade, Serbia.
  8. 8
    Several places in the United States:
  9. 9
    Several places in the United States:
  10. 10
    Several places in the United States:
  11. 11
    Several places in the United States:
  12. 12
    Several places in the United States:
  13. 13
    Several places in the United States:
  14. 14
    Several places in the United States:
  15. 15
    Several places in the United States:
  16. 16
    Several places in the United States:
  17. 17
    Several places in the United States:
  18. 18
    A habitational surname for someone from London.
  19. 19
    A unisex given name transferred from the place name.

Etymology

From Middle English Londoun, from Old English Lunden, from Proto-Celtic via Latin Londinium – see for details. Doublet of Londinium.

Synonyms

the Big SmokeEinethe Great WenLondongradLondonistanMoscow-on-ThamesRum-villethe Smoke

This word in other languages

Londres(Español)Londres(Français)London(Deutsch)Londres(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: llondon,lnodon,lodnon,londdon,londno,londonn,lonndon,lonodn,olndon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of London - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

llondon1lnodon2lodnon2londdon1londno2londonn1lonndon1lonodn2
Edit distance from "London"

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 "London"?
"London" is spelled L-O-N-D-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈlʌn.dən/.
What does "London" mean?
As a proper noun, "London" means: The capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London. Situated on the tidal River Thames in southeast England, with a metropolitan population of more than 13,0...
What words are commonly confused with "London"?
"London" is commonly confused with "loon", "lotion", "Lyndon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "London"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "London" is /ˈlʌn.dən/. 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 "London"?
From Middle English Londoun, from Old English Lunden, from Proto-Celtic via Latin Londinium – see for details. Doublet of Londinium. 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.

Using “London”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-O-N-D-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈlʌn.dən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “loon” - see the side-by-side comparison. London vs loon
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list