Peking

/piːˈkɪŋ/

//piːˈkɪŋ// name

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

"peking" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Peking” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,058. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,058
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dated form of Beijing: a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China.

Corpus desk

Index EN-peking · Peking · English

Peking · rank #23,058 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,058
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Passover

Nearest frequency peer: Passover (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Peking”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “Peking” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Peking vs ping
50% similar
Peking vs peng
50% similar
Peking vs posing
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Peking
PropertyValue
HeadwordPeking
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/piːˈkɪŋ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#23,058
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Peking”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).Pekinglands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Passover” (#23,057), “penitentiary” (#23,059), “pant” (#23,056). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “Peking” is #23,058. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Peking (IPA /piːˈkɪŋ/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #23,058 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Peking, with forms such as "epking", "peikng", and "pekign". 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 also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ping", "peng", "posing", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: c. 1655 romanization of the Nanking court dialect Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 北京 (Běijīng), reinforced by Postal Romanization from before the modern palatalization of [k] to [t͡ɕ]. The early Portuguese and Jesuits such as Francis Xavier used the spell… The correct English form is Peking, spelled P-E-K-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dated form of Beijing: a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China.
  2. 2
    Dated form of Beijing: the government of the People's Republic of China; the central leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Peking appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The Emperour hearing of the ill ſucceſſe of this Affairs, began to think of leaving the Northern parts, where his Royal City of Peking is ſituated, and to paſſe to Nankuing which is far more Southward; but he was diſſwaded from this intended courſe as well by his loyal, as diſloyal ſubjec͡ts : by theſe, that they might give him up more ſpeedily into the e…
  2. This is not a time for a long speech but, I would not want this opportunity to pass without saying just a word with regard to the significance of this moment. Some of you may recall that it was two and a half years ago that right here in Guam, I announced a new direction for American foreign policy based on the principles of self-reliance, self-respect- e…

Etymology

c. 1655 romanization of the Nanking court dialect Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 北京 (Běijīng), reinforced by Postal Romanization from before the modern palatalization of [k] to [t͡ɕ]. The early Portuguese and Jesuits such as Francis Xavier used the spelling Paquim; Abraham Ortelius used C. Paquin for his 1572 Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas; Italian Jesuit Martino Martini used Peking in his 1654 Latin De Bello Tartarico Historia and 1655 Novus Atlas Sinensis, which were quickly translated into English and later used by Joan Blaeu for his 1665 Atlas Maior. Peter Heylyn's Cosmographie changed its spelling from Paquin in the 1652 edition to Peking in the 1658 edition, but both Pekin and Peking were used interchangeably in English until the Chinese Imperial Post adopted Peking as its official transcription in the 1890s.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epking
  • peikng
  • pekign
  • pekingg
  • pekinng
  • pekking
  • peknig
  • pkeing
  • ppeking

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Peking - 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.

epking2peikng2pekign2pekingg1pekinng1pekking1peknig2pkeing2
Edit distance from "Peking"

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 "Peking"?
"Peking" is spelled P-E-K-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /piːˈkɪŋ/.
What does "Peking" mean?
As a proper noun, "Peking" means: Dated form of Beijing: a direct-administered municipality, the capital city of China.
What words are commonly confused with "Peking"?
"Peking" is commonly confused with "ping", "peng", "posing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Peking"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Peking" is /piːˈkɪŋ/. 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 "Peking"?
c. 1655 romanization of the Nanking court dialect Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 北京 (Běijīng), reinforced by Postal Romanization from before the modern palatalization of [k] to [t͡ɕ]. The early Portuguese and Jesuits such as Francis Xavier used... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Peking", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Picard#23,063Morley#23,045Rankin#23,075rename#23,082

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

padding9 variantsRhinos9 variantsimprov9 variantsGustav9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list