oxford
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "oxford", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "oxford" 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 "oxford" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
Oxford is aEnglishname. It means: A city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, famous for its university. Pronounced /ˈɒksfəd/. It ranks #3,772 in English word frequency. Often confused with Oxnard.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Oxford |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Name |
| IPA | /ˈɒksfəd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #3,772 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Oxford is 6 letters long, classified as aname, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɒksfəd/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,772 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 35 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for Oxford, with forms such as "ofxord", "oxfford", and "oxfodr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Oxnard", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Oxenford, Oxneford, from Old English Oxnaford (“Oxford”, literally “oxen's ford”), equivalent to ox + ford. Compare Old Norse Öxnafurða. 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 Oxford, spelled O-X-F-O-R-D, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, famous for its university.
- 2Ellipsis of University of Oxford.
- 3An English habitational surname derived from the city in England.
- 4Other places in England:
- 5Other places in England:
- 6A number of places in the United States:
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- 29A number of places in the United States:
- 30A number of places in the United States:
- 31A settlement on Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.
- 32A place in Canada:
- 33A place in Canada:
- 34A town in Waimakariri district, Canterbury, New Zealand.
- 35A rural locality in Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia.
Etymology
From Middle English Oxenford, Oxneford, from Old English Oxnaford (“Oxford”, literally “oxen's ford”), equivalent to ox + ford. Compare Old Norse Öxnafurða.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ofxord,oxfford,oxfodr,oxfordd,oxforrd,oxfrod,oxofrd,oxxford,xoford
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Oxford
Misspelling Variants of "Oxford"
Frequency rank: #3,772 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter O in our English index: