Philadelphia

/fɪləˈdɛlfi.ə/

//fɪləˈdɛlfi.ə// name

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

"philadelphia" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Philadelphia” has 18 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,519. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,519
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
18
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The largest city in Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of coterminous Philadelphia County; the former capital of the United States.

Corpus desk

Index EN-philadelphia · Philadelphia · English

Philadelphia · rank #3,519 · 18 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,519
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 18 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH participate

Nearest frequency peer: participate (-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 “Philadelphia”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Philadelphia” 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
Key facts for Philadelphia
PropertyValue
HeadwordPhiladelphia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/fɪləˈdɛlfi.ə/
Letters12
Frequency rank#3,519
Misspellings tracked18
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Philadelphia”

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).Philadelphialands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “participate” (#3,518), “prayer” (#3,520), “ordinary” (#3,517). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “Philadelphia” is #3,519. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 18 spelling variants around Philadelphia (IPA /fɪləˈdɛlfi.ə/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #3,519 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for Philadelphia, with forms such as "hpiladelphia", "phhiladelphia", and "phialdelphia". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Philadelphia, from Ancient Greek Φιλαδέλφεια (Philadélpheia), from φιλάδελφος (philádelphos, “brother/sibling-loving”) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming placenames”), from the combining form of φῐλέειν (phĭléein, “to love”) + ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brothe… The correct English form is Philadelphia, spelled P-H-I-L-A-D-E-L-P-H-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    The largest city in Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of coterminous Philadelphia County; the former capital of the United States.
  2. 2
    Former name of Amman: the capital of Jordan.
  3. 3
    Former name of Alaşehir: a city, municipality, and district of Manisa Province, Turkey.
  4. 4
    A locale in the United States; named for the city in Pennsylvania.
  5. 5
    A locale in the United States; named for the city in Pennsylvania.
  6. 6
    A locale in the United States; named for the city in Pennsylvania.
  7. 7
    A locale in the United States; named for the city in Pennsylvania.
  8. 8
    A locale in the United States; named for the city in Pennsylvania.
  9. 9
    A village in Brandenburg, Germany; named for the city in Pennsylvania.
  10. 10
    A village in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England; named for the city in Pennsylvania (OS grid ref NZ3352).
  11. 11
    A suburb of Cape Town, South Africa.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Philadelphia police said they were investigating. No charges were immediately filed.

Etymology

From Latin Philadelphia, from Ancient Greek Φιλαδέλφεια (Philadélpheia), from φιλάδελφος (philádelphos, “brother/sibling-loving”) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming placenames”), from the combining form of φῐλέειν (phĭléein, “to love”) + ἀδελφός (adelphós, “brother, sibling”). In reference to the city in Turkey, named for the loyal Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon. In reference to the city in Jordan, named for the incestuous Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt. In reference to the American city, named for the ancient towns as well as the Quaker William Penn's aim of fostering religious tolerance. Doublet of Filadelfia.

This word in other languages

Filadelfia(Español)Philadelphie(Français)Philadelphia(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hpiladelphia
  • phhiladelphia
  • phialdelphia
  • philaddelphia
  • philadelhpia
  • philadellphia
  • philadelphai
  • philadelphhia
  • philadelpiha
  • philadelpphia
  • philadeplhia
  • philadlephia
  • philaedlphia
  • phildaelphia
  • philladelphia
  • phliadelphia
  • pihladelphia
  • pphiladelphia

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Philadelphia - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hpiladelphia2phhiladelphia1phialdelphia2philaddelphia1philadelhpia2philadellphia1philadelphai2philadelphhia1
Edit distance from "Philadelphia"

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 "Philadelphia"?
"Philadelphia" is spelled P-H-I-L-A-D-E-L-P-H-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /fɪləˈdɛlfi.ə/.
What does "Philadelphia" mean?
As a proper noun, "Philadelphia" means: The largest city in Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of coterminous Philadelphia County; the former capital of the United States.
What are common misspellings of "Philadelphia"?
Common misspellings include "hpiladelphia", "phhiladelphia", "phialdelphia", "philaddelphia", "philadelhpia". The correct spelling is "Philadelphia".
How do you pronounce "Philadelphia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Philadelphia" is /fɪləˈdɛlfi.ə/. 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 "Philadelphia"?
From Latin Philadelphia, from Ancient Greek Φιλαδέλφεια (Philadélpheia), from φιλάδελφος (philádelphos, “brother/sibling-loving”) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming placenames”), from the combining form of φῐλέειν (phĭléein, “to love”) + ἀδελφός (adelphó... 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 "Philadelphia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

disappointed#3,481architecture#3,467commissioner#3,415Pennsylvania#3,645

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (18 here; floor ≥5).

expectations18 variantsphotography18 variantstranslation18 variantsgovernments18 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list