renown
/ɹɪˈnaʊn/
"renown" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“renown” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,185 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,185
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Fame; celebrity; wide recognition.
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 | renown |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈnaʊn/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #25,185 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “renown” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for renown is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈnaʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,185 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for renown, with forms such as "ernown", "rennown", and "renonw". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "Renton", "rundown", "renowned", 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 Old French renoun (compare with Modern French renom), equivalent to re- + noun. The correct English form is renown, spelled R-E-N-O-W-N.
Definition
- 1Fame; celebrity; wide recognition.
- 2Reports of nobleness or achievements; praise.
Etymology
From Old French renoun (compare with Modern French renom), equivalent to re- + noun.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ernown,rennown,renonw,renownn,renowwn,renwon,reonwn,rneown,rrenown
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of renown - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “renown”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-N-O-W-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɪˈnaʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Renton” - see the side-by-side comparison. renown vs Renton
- 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.