neighbour
/ˈneɪbə/
"neighbour" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“neighbour” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,430 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,430
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person living on adjacent or nearby land; a person situated adjacently or nearby; anything (of the same type of thing as the subject) in an adjacent or nearby position.
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 | neighbour |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈneɪbə/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #11,430 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “neighbour” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for neighbour is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈneɪbə/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,430 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for neighbour, with forms such as "enighbour", "negihbour", and "neigbhour". 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, "neighbor", "Neighbors", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English neyghebour, neighebor, neighbour, neihebur, from Old English nēahġebūr (“neighbour”), from Proto-West Germanic *nāhwagabūrō, from Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô (“neighbour”, literally “near-dweller”), equivalent to nigh (“near”) + bower (“… The correct English form is neighbour, spelled N-E-I-G-H-B-O-U-R.
Definition
- 1A person living on adjacent or nearby land; a person situated adjacently or nearby; anything (of the same type of thing as the subject) in an adjacent or nearby position.
- 2One who is near in sympathy or confidence.
- 3A fellow human being.
- 4Anything located directly adjacent to something else.
Etymology
From Middle English neyghebour, neighebor, neighbour, neihebur, from Old English nēahġebūr (“neighbour”), from Proto-West Germanic *nāhwagabūrō, from Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô (“neighbour”, literally “near-dweller”), equivalent to nigh (“near”) + bower (“farmer”). Cognate with Scots nichbour (“neighbour”), Saterland Frisian Noaber (“neighbour”), Dutch nabuur (“neighbour”), German Low German Naber (“neighbour”), German Nachbar (“neighbour”), Danish nabo (“neighbour”), Norwegian nabo (“neighbour”), Icelandic nábúi (“neighbour”), Finnish naapuri (“neighbour”), Estonian naaber (“neighbour”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English prome (“neighbour”), borrowed from Old French proeme, proime, proisme (“neighbour”) (<< Latin proximus (“nearest, next”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: enighbour,negihbour,neigbhour,neigghbour,neighbbour,neighboru,neighbourr,neighbuor,neighhbour,neighobur,neihgbour,nieghbour,nneighbour
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of neighbour - 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 "neighbour"?
What does "neighbour" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "neighbour"?
How do you pronounce "neighbour"?
What is the origin of the word "neighbour"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “neighbour”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-E-I-G-H-B-O-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈneɪbə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “neighbor” - see the side-by-side comparison. neighbour vs neighbor
- 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.