periwinkle
/ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/
"periwinkle" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“periwinkle” is uncommon English (frequency #60,356 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #60,356
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several evergreen plants of the genus Vinca with blue or white flowers.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | periwinkle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #60,356 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “periwinkle” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
periwinkle is uncommon English at frequency #60,356 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for periwinkle in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Diminutive of Middle English perwinke, from Old English perfince, perwince (compare Middle High German berwinke), from Latin pervinca (compare French pervenche, Italian pervinca). The correct English form is periwinkle, spelled P-E-R-I-W-I-N-K-L-E.
Definition
- 1Any of several evergreen plants of the genus Vinca with blue or white flowers.
- 2Similar plants of genus Catharanthus.
- 3A color with bluish and purplish hues, somewhat light.
Etymology
Diminutive of Middle English perwinke, from Old English perfince, perwince (compare Middle High German berwinke), from Latin pervinca (compare French pervenche, Italian pervinca).
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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Using “periwinkle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-I-W-I-N-K-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɛɹ.ɪˌwɪŋ.kəl/ (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.