ravine

/ɹəˈviːn/

//ɹəˈviːn// noun

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

"ravine" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ravine” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,965. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,965
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A deep narrow valley or gorge in the earth's surface worn by running water.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ravine · ravine · English

ravine · rank #23,965 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,965
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH ratchet

Nearest frequency peer: ratchet (-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 “ravine”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “ravine” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ravine vs Rhine
50% similar
ravine vs revive
67% similar
ravine vs revise
67% similar

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

Key facts for ravine
PropertyValue
Headwordravine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹəˈviːn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#23,965
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “ravine”

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).ravinelands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “ratchet” (#23,964), “raving” (#23,966), “raptor” (#23,963). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “ravine” is #23,965. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around ravine (IPA /ɹəˈviːn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,965 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A deep narrow valley or gorge in the earth's surface worn by running water.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for ravine, with forms such as "arvine", "raivne", and "ravien". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Rhine", "revive", "revise", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French ravin (“a gully”), from Old French raviner (“to pillage, sweep down, cascade”), from ravine (“robbery, rapine; violent rush of water, waterfall, avalanche; impetuosity, spirit”), from Latin rapīna (cf. rapine). The correct English form is ravine, spelled R-A-V-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A deep narrow valley or gorge in the earth's surface worn by running water.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sometimes the earth stretched up towards them with peaks of mountains, sometimes it fell away in steep ravines, blue rivers sang to them as they passed above them, or very faintly came the song of breezes in lone orchards, and far away the sea sang mighty dirges of old forsaken isles.
  2. He fell into a reverie, a most dangerous state of mind for a chauffeur, since a fall into reverie on the part of a driver may mean a fall into a ravine on the part of the machine.

Etymology

Borrowed from French ravin (“a gully”), from Old French raviner (“to pillage, sweep down, cascade”), from ravine (“robbery, rapine; violent rush of water, waterfall, avalanche; impetuosity, spirit”), from Latin rapīna (cf. rapine).

This word in other languages

barranco(Español)ravin(Français)Schlucht(Deutsch)ravina(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • arvine
  • raivne
  • ravien
  • ravinne
  • ravnie
  • ravvine
  • rravine
  • rvaine

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

arvine2raivne2ravien2ravinne1ravnie2ravvine1rravine1rvaine2
Edit distance from "ravine"

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 "ravine"?
"ravine" is spelled R-A-V-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹəˈviːn/.
What does "ravine" mean?
As a noun, "ravine" means: A deep narrow valley or gorge in the earth's surface worn by running water.
What words are commonly confused with "ravine"?
"ravine" is commonly confused with "Rhine", "revive", "revise". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ravine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ravine" is /ɹəˈviːn/. 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 "ravine"?
Borrowed from French ravin (“a gully”), from Old French raviner (“to pillage, sweep down, cascade”), from ravine (“robbery, rapine; violent rush of water, waterfall, avalanche; impetuosity, spirit”), from Latin rapīna (cf. rapine). 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 "ravine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

raving#23,966raptor#23,963Quaker#23,959primed#23,951

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Sonoma8 variantsmonies8 variantslilies8 variantsunites8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list