Ottumwa

/əˈtʌmwə/

//əˈtʌmwə// name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ottumwa" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Ottumwa” is uncommon English (frequency #78,904 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,904
frequency rank, English
15,494
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A city, the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States.

Key facts for Ottumwa
PropertyValue
HeadwordOttumwa
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/əˈtʌmwə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#78,904
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Ottumwa” 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). Ottumwa lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

Ottumwa is uncommon English at frequency #78,904 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /əˈtʌmwə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for Ottumwa in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is Ottumwa, spelled O-T-T-U-M-W-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A city, the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States.
  2. 2
    An unincorporated community in Coffey County, Kansas, United States.
  3. 3
    An unincorporated community in Haakon County, South Dakota, United States.

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 "Ottumwa"?
"Ottumwa" is spelled O-T-T-U-M-W-A. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈtʌmwə/.
What does "Ottumwa" mean?
As a proper noun, "Ottumwa" means: A city, the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States.
How do you pronounce "Ottumwa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Ottumwa" is /əˈtʌmwə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Ottumwa" come from?
"Ottumwa" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “Ottumwa”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is O-T-T-U-M-W-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /əˈtʌmwə/ (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

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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