Nanjing
/nænˈd͡ʒɪŋ/
"nanjing" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Nanjing” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,007 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #29,007
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A major subprovincial city, the provincial capital of Jiangsu, China, on the lower Yangtze; a former capital of China.
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 | Nanjing |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /nænˈd͡ʒɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #29,007 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Nanjing” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Nanjing is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /nænˈd͡ʒɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,007 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for Nanjing, with forms such as "annjing", "najning", and "nanijng". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "napping", "Nanking", "naming", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: The atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 南京 (Nánjīng), composed of 南 (“south, southern”) and 京 (jīng, “capital”), distinguishing it from Beijing to the north, and first applied informally during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynast… The correct English form is Nanjing, spelled N-A-N-J-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1A major subprovincial city, the provincial capital of Jiangsu, China, on the lower Yangtze; a former capital of China.
- 2Synonym of Jiangnan, Nanzhili, Liangjiang, etc. as imperial Chinese provinces or viceroyalties administered from Nanjing.
- 3Various other Chinese cities during periods when they acted as a southern capital of a kingdom or imperial dynasty.
Etymology
The atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 南京 (Nánjīng), composed of 南 (“south, southern”) and 京 (jīng, “capital”), distinguishing it from Beijing to the north, and first applied informally during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who preferred to rule from Beijing but was obliged to treat Nanjing as a secondary capital by the dynastic injunctions of his father the Hongwu Emperor. The name continued a practice of several preceding dynasties—especially those of nomadic conquerers from the north such as the Jin and Liao—of maintaining a number of separate capitals designated by their cardinal directions.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: annjing,najning,nanijng,nanjign,nanjingg,nanjinng,nanjjing,nanjnig,nannjing,nnajing,nnanjing
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Nanjing - 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 "Nanjing"?
What does "Nanjing" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Nanjing"?
How do you pronounce "Nanjing"?
What is the origin of the word "Nanjing"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Nanjing”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-A-N-J-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /nænˈd͡ʒɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “napping” - see the side-by-side comparison. Nanjing vs napping
- 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.