place

/pleɪs/

//pleɪs// noun

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

"place" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“place” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #187. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#187
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An area; somewhere within an area.

Corpus desk

Index EN-place · place · English

place · rank #187 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #187
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH house

Nearest frequency peer: house (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “place”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “place” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

place vs PLC
0% similar
place vs play
60% similar
place vs plan
60% similar

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

Key facts for place
PropertyValue
Headwordplace
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pleɪs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#187
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “place” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).place lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around place (IPA /pleɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #187 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 23 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for place, with forms such as "lpace", "palce", and "placce". 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, "PLC", "play", "plan", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English place, conflation of Old English plæċe (“place, an open space, street”) and Old French place (“place, an open space”), both from Latin platēa (“plaza, wide street”), from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa), shortening of πλατεῖα ὁδός (plate… The correct English form is place, spelled P-L-A-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  2. 2
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  3. 3
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  4. 4
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  5. 5
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  6. 6
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  7. 7
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  8. 8
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  9. 9
    An area; somewhere within an area.
  10. 10
    A location or position in space.
  11. 11
    A particular location in a book or document, particularly the current location of a reader
  12. 12
    A passage or extract from a book or document.
  13. 13
    A topic.
  14. 14
    A state of mind.
  15. 15
    A chess position; a square of the chessboard.
  16. 16
    A responsibility or position in an organization.
  17. 17
    A responsibility or position in an organization.
  18. 18
    A responsibility or position in an organization.
  19. 19
    A responsibility or position in an organization.
  20. 20
    A fortified position: a fortress, citadel, or walled town.
  21. 21
    Numerically, the column counting a certain quantity.
  22. 22
    Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding.
  23. 23
    Reception; effect; implying the making room for.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Ay, sir, the other squirrel was stolen from me by the hangman's boys in the market-place
  2. They live at Westminster Place.

Etymology

From Middle English place, conflation of Old English plæċe (“place, an open space, street”) and Old French place (“place, an open space”), both from Latin platēa (“plaza, wide street”), from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa), shortening of πλατεῖα ὁδός (plateîa hodós, “broad way”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“to spread”), extended form of *pleh₂- (“flat”). Displaced native Old English stōw, stede (partially), and -ern. Compare also English pleck (“plot of ground”), West Frisian plak (“place, spot, location”), Dutch plek (“place, spot, patch”). Doublet of piatza, piazza, and plaza. In the etymological chain from Latin platēa, note Old French place, which has multiple descendants — including German Platz, itself with many descendants (e.g., Russian плац (plac)). Also note a more distant chain node Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), whence English Plato and English plate (via Latin).

Synonyms

courtyardpiazzaplazasquareseatbathroomlocationpositionsituationsteadstellspotframe of mindmindsetmood

This word in other languages

lugar(Español)lieu(Français)Platz(Deutsch)lugar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lpace
  • palce
  • placce
  • plaec
  • plcae
  • pllace
  • pplace

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

lpace2palce2placce1plaec2plcae2pllace1pplace1
Edit distance from "place"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "place"?
"place" is spelled P-L-A-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pleɪs/.
What does "place" mean?
As a noun, "place" means: An area; somewhere within an area.
What words are commonly confused with "place"?
"place" is commonly confused with "PLC", "play", "plan". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "place"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "place" is /pleɪs/. 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 "place"?
From Middle English place, conflation of Old English plæċe (“place, an open space, street”) and Old French place (“place, an open space”), both from Latin platēa (“plaza, wide street”), from Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa), shortening of πλατεῖα ὁ... 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 "place", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

house#186again#189thing#184under#180

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

found7 variantssince7 variantslittle7 variantsbetter7 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "place". Here's where to go from here.

  • "place" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "PLC". View pair
  • 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #187 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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