Portsmouth

name

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

"portsmouth" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Portsmouth” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,039. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,039
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A city, unitary authority, and borough of Hampshire, in southern England.

Corpus desk

Index EN-portsmouth · Portsmouth · English

Portsmouth · rank #13,039 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,039
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH praising

Nearest frequency peer: praising (+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 “Portsmouth”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Portsmouth” 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 Portsmouth
PropertyValue
HeadwordPortsmouth
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters10
Frequency rank#13,039
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Portsmouth”

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).Portsmouthlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “praising” (#13,040), “poke” (#13,037), “pres” (#13,041). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “Portsmouth” is #13,039. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around Portsmouth, aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #13,039 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for Portsmouth, with forms such as "oprtsmouth", "porrtsmouth", and "porstmouth". 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. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Portesmuða, from Old English Portesmuða. The correct English form is Portsmouth, spelled P-O-R-T-S-M-O-U-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A city, unitary authority, and borough of Hampshire, in southern England.
  2. 2
    A village in Todmorden parish, Calderdale borough, West Yorkshire, England, on the border with Lancashire (OS grid ref SD9026).
  3. 3
    A neighbourhood of Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
  4. 4
    A town in Saint John parish, Dominica.
  5. 5
    A number of places in the United States:
  6. 6
    A number of places in the United States:
  7. 7
    A number of places in the United States:
  8. 8
    A number of places in the United States:
  9. 9
    A number of places in the United States:
  10. 10
    A number of places in the United States:
  11. 11
    A number of places in the United States:
  12. 12
    A number of places in the United States:
  13. 13
    An English earldom

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. When ready for sea we went up to Greenhithe, that their lordships might inspect us, and then to Portsmouth, to take troops to Cork, a pleasant trip; […]
  2. […] not exceeding six Persons for Newport foure Persons for each of the respective Townes of Providence Portsmouth and Warwicke and two Persons for each other Place Towne or Citty […]

Etymology

From Middle English Portesmuða, from Old English Portesmuða.

Synonyms

Pompey

This word in other languages

Portsmouth(Français)Portsmouth(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • oprtsmouth
  • porrtsmouth
  • porstmouth
  • portmsouth
  • portsmmouth
  • portsmotuh
  • portsmouht
  • portsmouthh
  • portsmoutth
  • portsmuoth
  • portsomuth
  • portssmouth
  • porttsmouth
  • potrsmouth
  • pportsmouth
  • protsmouth

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

oprtsmouth2porrtsmouth1porstmouth2portmsouth2portsmmouth1portsmotuh2portsmouht2portsmouthh1
Edit distance from "Portsmouth"

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 "Portsmouth"?
"Portsmouth" is spelled P-O-R-T-S-M-O-U-T-H.
What does "Portsmouth" mean?
As a proper noun, "Portsmouth" means: A city, unitary authority, and borough of Hampshire, in southern England.
What are common misspellings of "Portsmouth"?
Common misspellings include "oprtsmouth", "porrtsmouth", "porstmouth", "portmsouth", "portsmmouth". The correct spelling is "Portsmouth".
What is the origin of the word "Portsmouth"?
From Middle English Portesmuða, from Old English Portesmuða. 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 "Portsmouth", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pertaining#13,036prosperous#13,046respecting#13,050suppressed#13,067

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

intercourse16 variantsaccumulation16 variantsdisappearing16 variantsconditional16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list