provincial
/pɹəˈvɪn(t)ʃəl/
"provincial" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“provincial” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,288 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #6,288
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or pertaining to a province.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | provincial |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /pɹəˈvɪn(t)ʃəl/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #6,288 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “provincial” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for provincial is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹəˈvɪn(t)ʃəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,288 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for provincial, with forms such as "porvincial", "pprovincial", and "proivncial". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English provincial, from Old French provincial, from Latin prōvinciālis (“of a province”), equivalent to province + -ial. The correct English form is provincial, spelled P-R-O-V-I-N-C-I-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to a province.
- 2Constituting a province.
- 3Exhibiting the ways or manners of a province; characteristic of the inhabitants of a province.
- 4Not cosmopolitan; limited in outlook; narrow; illiberal.
- 5Not cosmopolitan; limited in outlook; narrow; illiberal.
- 6Of or pertaining to an ecclesiastical province, or to the jurisdiction of an archbishop; not ecumenical.
Etymology
From Middle English provincial, from Old French provincial, from Latin prōvinciālis (“of a province”), equivalent to province + -ial.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: porvincial,pprovincial,proivncial,provicnial,provincail,provinccial,provinciall,provincila,provinical,provinncial,provnicial,provvincial,prrovincial,prvoincial,rpovincial
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of provincial - 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.
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 "provincial"?
What does "provincial" mean?
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Using “provincial”
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-I-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɹəˈvɪn(t)ʃəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.