province
/ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/
"province" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“province” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,190 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,190
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | province |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #3,190 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “province” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for province is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,190 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for province, with forms such as "porvince", "pprovince", and "proivnce". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "proving", "provinces", "prince", 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 provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Old French province, from Latin prōvincia, seemingly corresponding to prō- and vinciō. Replaced Old English boldġetæl. The correct English form is province, spelled P-R-O-V-I-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1A region of the earth or of a continent; a district or country.
- 2An administrative subdivision of certain countries, including Canada and China.
- 3An area outside Italy which is administered by a Roman governor or prefect.
- 4An area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, typically comprising a number of adjacent dioceses.
- 5An area under the jurisdiction of a provincial within a monastic order.
- 6The parts of a country outside its national capital.
- 7A major region defined by common geologic attributes and history.
- 8An area of activity, responsibility or knowledge; the proper concern of a particular person or concept.
Etymology
From Middle English provynce, from Anglo-Norman province, Old French province, from Latin prōvincia, seemingly corresponding to prō- and vinciō. Replaced Old English boldġetæl.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: porvince,pprovince,proivnce,provicne,provincce,provinec,provinnce,provnice,provvince,prrovince,prvoince,rpovince
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of province - 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.
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 "province"?
What does "province" mean?
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Using “province”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-O-V-I-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɹɑv.ɪns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “proving” - see the side-by-side comparison. province vs proving
- 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.