luncheon
/ˈlʌn(t)ʃən/
"luncheon" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“luncheon” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,384. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #19,384
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A formal meal served in the middle of the day.
Corpus desk
Index EN-luncheon · luncheon · English
luncheon · rank #19,384 · 12 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-MID #19,384
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-MID 12 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH lousy
Nearest frequency peer: lousy (-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 “luncheon”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- limbo
limbo
80,620 corpus weight
- linger
linger
80,619 corpus weight
- lousy
lousy
80,618 corpus weight
- luncheon
luncheon
80,617 corpus weight
- mailbox
mailbox
80,616 corpus weight
- mammal
mammal
80,615 corpus weight
What this shows “luncheon” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | luncheon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlʌn(t)ʃən/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #19,384 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “luncheon”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around luncheon (IPA /ˈlʌn(t)ʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,384 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for luncheon, with forms such as "lluncheon", "lnucheon", and "lucnheon". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "lunches", "lunchbox", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier lunching, of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from an earlier *lumpchin, *lumpchen, a diminutive of lump (“chunk, parcel of food, lunch”), thus related to lunch, q.v. It is unclear which came first: whether lunch is a shortening of luncheon, … The correct English form is luncheon, spelled L-U-N-C-H-E-O-N.
Definition
- 1A formal meal served in the middle of the day.
- 2A large, cheap, processed sausage served in thin slices.
- 3Any midday meal; lunch.
- 4A lump of food.
- 5A portion of food taken at any time except at a regular meal; an informal or light repast.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how luncheon appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.
Superintendent Chalmers: Well, Seymour, I made it — despite your directions. Principal Skinner: Ahhh, Superintendent Chalmers! Welcome! I hope you're prepared for an unforgettable luncheon.
Etymology
From earlier lunching, of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from an earlier *lumpchin, *lumpchen, a diminutive of lump (“chunk, parcel of food, lunch”), thus related to lunch, q.v. It is unclear which came first: whether lunch is a shortening of luncheon, or whether luncheon is an augmentation of lunch. Possibly influenced by nuncheon (“light snack taken in the afternoon”). The "sausage" sense is probably a shortening of luncheon sausage or luncheon meat.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- lluncheon
- lnucheon
- lucnheon
- lunccheon
- luncehon
- luncheno
- luncheonn
- lunchheon
- lunchoen
- lunhceon
- lunncheon
- ulncheon
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of luncheon - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "luncheon", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).