porch

/pɔːtʃ/

//pɔːtʃ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“porch” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,970 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,970
frequency rank, English
5
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A covered entrance to a building, whether taken from the interior, and forming a sort of vestibule within the main wall, or projecting without and with a separate roof. A porch often has chair(s), ...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

porch vs PRC
0% similar
porch vs port
60% similar
porch vs porn
60% similar

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

Key facts for porch
PropertyValue
Headwordporch
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɔːtʃ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,970
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “porch” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). porch lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for porch is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɔːtʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,970 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for porch, with forms such as "oprch", "pocrh", and "porcch". 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, "PRC", "port", "porn", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English porche, from Old French, from Latin porticus (“portico”). Doublet of portego, portico, and porticus. The correct English form is porch, spelled P-O-R-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A covered entrance to a building, whether taken from the interior, and forming a sort of vestibule within the main wall, or projecting without and with a separate roof. A porch often has chair(s), table(s) and swings.
  2. 2
    A portico; a covered walk.
  3. 3
    The platform outside the external hatch of a spacecraft.

Etymology

From Middle English porche, from Old French, from Latin porticus (“portico”). Doublet of portego, portico, and porticus.

Synonyms

porchportico

This word in other languages

pórtico(Español)porche(Français)Vorbau(Deutsch)varanda(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: oprch,pocrh,porcch,porchh,porhc,porrch,pporch,proch

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of porch - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

oprch2pocrh2porcch1porchh1porhc2porrch1pporch1proch2
Edit distance from "porch"

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 "porch"?
"porch" is spelled P-O-R-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /pɔːtʃ/.
What does "porch" mean?
As a noun, "porch" means: A covered entrance to a building, whether taken from the interior, and forming a sort of vestibule within the main wall, or projecting without and with a separate roof. A porch often has chair(s), ...
What words are commonly confused with "porch"?
"porch" is commonly confused with "PRC", "port", "porn". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "porch"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "porch" is /pɔːtʃ/. 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 "porch"?
From Middle English porche, from Old French, from Latin porticus (“portico”). Doublet of portego, portico, and porticus. 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.

Using “porch”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-O-R-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /pɔːtʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “PRC” - see the side-by-side comparison. porch vs PRC
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list