Lourdes
/lʊɹd(z)/
"lourdes" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Lourdes” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,901 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #32,901
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A town and commune of Hautes-Pyrénées department, Occitania, site of a large Catholic pilgrimage.
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 | Lourdes |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /lʊɹd(z)/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #32,901 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Lourdes” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Lourdes is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /lʊɹd(z)/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,901 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Lourdes, with forms such as "llourdes", "lorudes", and "loudres". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "Lowndes", "lords", "louder", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French Lourdes, corruption of Medieval Latin Lorus (778), the baptismal name taken by a Moorish leader who converted to Christianity, though of unknown ultimate meaning. The town in Newfoundland is named after the town in France. The correct English form is Lourdes, spelled L-O-U-R-D-E-S.
Definition
- 1A town and commune of Hautes-Pyrénées department, Occitania, site of a large Catholic pilgrimage.
- 2A town in Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
- 3A municipality in São Paulo state, Brazil.
- 4A municipality and town in Norte de Santander department, Colombia.
- 5A settlement in Alto Paraguay department, Paraguay.
- 6A female given name from Spanish, from the Spanish epithet of Virgin Mary as Nuestra Señora de Lourdes.
Etymology
From French Lourdes, corruption of Medieval Latin Lorus (778), the baptismal name taken by a Moorish leader who converted to Christianity, though of unknown ultimate meaning. The town in Newfoundland is named after the town in France.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: llourdes,lorudes,loudres,lourddes,lourdess,lourdse,loureds,lourrdes,luordes,olurdes
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Lourdes - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "Lourdes"?
What does "Lourdes" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Lourdes"?
How do you pronounce "Lourdes"?
What is the origin of the word "Lourdes"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Lourdes”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-O-U-R-D-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /lʊɹd(z)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Lowndes” - see the side-by-side comparison. Lourdes vs Lowndes
- 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.