onsen
/ɒnˈsɛn/
"onsen" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“onsen” is uncommon English (frequency #62,375 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #62,375
- frequency rank, English
- 1,431
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A (Japanese) hot spring.
Corpus desk
Index EN-onsen · onsen · English
onsen · rank #62,375 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #62,375
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,431
- PHOTO-FINISH ook
Nearest frequency peer: ook (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “onsen”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- oases
oases
37,631 corpus weight
- oiler
oiler
37,629 corpus weight
- onsen
onsen
37,626 corpus weight
- ook
ook
37,625 corpus weight
- operetta
operetta
37,624 corpus weight
- Osuna
Osuna
37,622 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “onsen” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | onsen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɒnˈsɛn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #62,375 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “onsen” in English
Rare enough to double-check
onsen is uncommon English at frequency #62,375 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɒnˈsɛn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for onsen in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Japanese 温泉 (onsen), from Middle Chinese 溫泉 ('won dzjwen, “hot springs”), from 溫 /温 (wēn, “warm”) + 泉 (quán, “spring[s]”). Compare the modern Mandarin pronunciation 溫泉 /温泉 (wēnquán). The correct English form is onsen, spelled O-N-S-E-N.
Definition
- 1A (Japanese) hot spring.
- 2A Japanese-style resort hotel at a natural hot spring, offering on-site bathing.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how onsen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The hottest springs in Japan aren't in the north but at the Obama Onsen outside Nagasaki.
We stayed at a traditional onsen with tatami, yukata, and kaiseki at Onyang outside Seoul.
Etymology
From Japanese 温泉 (onsen), from Middle Chinese 溫泉 ('won dzjwen, “hot springs”), from 溫 /温 (wēn, “warm”) + 泉 (quán, “spring[s]”). Compare the modern Mandarin pronunciation 溫泉 /温泉 (wēnquán).
This word in other languages
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 "onsen", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).