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oswego

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Detailed reference entry for the English word "oswego", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "oswego" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "oswego" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

The verdict

“Oswego” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,214 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.

#34,214
frequency rank, English
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings

Dominant Wiktionary sense: A large village in Kendall County, Illinois, United States.

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Key facts for Oswego
PropertyValue
HeadwordOswego
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ɒsˈwiːɡoʊ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#34,214
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Oswego” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Oswego lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for Oswego is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɒsˈwiːɡoʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,214 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Oswego, with forms such as "osewgo", "osswego", and "osweggo". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From a Mohawk name meaning "flowing out", referring to the river. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is Oswego, spelled O-S-W-E-G-O, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A large village in Kendall County, Illinois, United States.
  2. 2
    An unincorporated community in Kosciusko County, Indiana, United States, named after Oswego, New York.
  3. 3
    A city, the county seat of Labette County, Kansas, United States.
  4. 4
    An unincorporated community in Valley County, Montana, United States, named after Oswego, NY.
  5. 5
    A small census-designated place in Sumter County, South Carolina, United States.
  6. 6
    A city and town, the county seat of Oswego County, New York, United States.
  7. 7
    A river in New York which flows into Lake Ontario.
  8. 8
    A river in New Jersey, United States, which flows into the Wading River.

Etymology

From a Mohawk name meaning "flowing out", referring to the river.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: osewgo,osswego,osweggo,osweog,oswgeo,oswwego,owsego,sowego

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Oswego - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "Oswego"

osewgo2osswego1osweggo1osweog2oswgeo2oswwego1owsego2sowego2
Edit distance from "Oswego"

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.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “Oswego, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/oswego

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Oswego"?
"Oswego" is spelled O-S-W-E-G-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ɒsˈwiːɡoʊ/.
What does "Oswego" mean?
As a proper noun, "Oswego" means: A large village in Kendall County, Illinois, United States.
What are common misspellings of "Oswego"?
Common misspellings include "osewgo", "osswego", "osweggo", "osweog", "oswgeo". The correct spelling is "Oswego".
How do you pronounce "Oswego"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Oswego" is /ɒsˈwiːɡoʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Oswego"?
From a Mohawk name meaning "flowing out", referring to the river. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “Oswego”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is O-S-W-E-G-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ɒsˈwiːɡoʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter O in our English index:

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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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list