Shiga

name

"shiga" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Shiga” is uncommon English (frequency #79,052 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#79,052
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A prefecture of Japan. Capital: Ōtsu.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shiga · Shiga · English

Shiga · rank #79,052 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #79,052
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sheff

Nearest frequency peer: Sheff (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “Shiga”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “Shiga” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Shiga
PropertyValue
HeadwordShiga
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters5
Frequency rank#79,052
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Shiga” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).Shigalands 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 “Sheff” (#79,051), “sexo” (#79,050), “shitpost” (#79,055). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Shiga is uncommon English at frequency #79,052 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A prefecture of Japan. Capital: Ōtsu.".

No misspelling variants are generated for Shiga in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 滋賀(しが) (Shiga). The correct English form is Shiga, spelled S-H-I-G-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A prefecture of Japan. Capital: Ōtsu.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 滋賀(しが) (Shiga).

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 "Shiga"?
"Shiga" is spelled S-H-I-G-A.
What does "Shiga" mean?
As a proper noun, "Shiga" means: A prefecture of Japan. Capital: Ōtsu.
What is the origin of the word "Shiga"?
Borrowed from Japanese 滋賀(しが) (Shiga). 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 "Shiga", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

What to do next

You've looked up "Shiga". Here's where to go from here.

  • Usage frequency rank #79,052 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list