Thames

/tɛmz/

//tɛmz// name

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

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

The verdict

“Thames” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,780. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,780
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A river in southern England, flowing 336 km (209 mi.) from Gloucestershire, through Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Greater London, and between Essex and Kent to the ...

Corpus desk

Index EN-thames · Thames · English

Thames · rank #10,780 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,780
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH termination

Nearest frequency peer: termination (-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 “Thames”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Thames” 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).

Thames vs times
50% similar
Thames vs theme
50% similar
Thames vs thats
50% similar

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

Key facts for Thames
PropertyValue
HeadwordThames
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/tɛmz/
Letters6
Frequency rank#10,780
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Thames”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).Thameslands 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 “termination” (#10,779), “thigh” (#10,781), “taller” (#10,778). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “Thames” is #10,780. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Thames (IPA /tɛmz/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #10,780 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Thames, with forms such as "htames", "tahmes", and "thaems". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "times", "theme", "thats", 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 Temese, from Old English Temes, Temese (compare Welsh Tafwys), from Latin Tamesis, Tamesas. Variant spellings with h arose in Middle English due to the mistaken assumption of a Greek etymology. The Latin name is from Proto-Brythonic *Tam… The correct English form is Thames, spelled T-H-A-M-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A river in southern England, flowing 336 km (209 mi.) from Gloucestershire, through Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Greater London, and between Essex and Kent to the Thames Estuary and North Sea.
  2. 2
    A sea area centred on the Thames Estuary.
  3. 3
    A river in Ontario, Canada, flowing 258 km (160 mi.) to Lake St. Clair.
  4. 4
    A river in the U.S. State of Connecticut flowing 24 km (15 mi.) past New London to Long Island Sound.
  5. 5
    A town in Thames-Coromandel district, Waikato, New Zealand, situated on the Firth of Thames (a large bay) and the Coromandel Peninsula.
  6. 6
    A surname.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Near-synonym: (dated) Isis

Etymology

From Middle English Temese, from Old English Temes, Temese (compare Welsh Tafwys), from Latin Tamesis, Tamesas. Variant spellings with h arose in Middle English due to the mistaken assumption of a Greek etymology. The Latin name is from Proto-Brythonic *Tamesis, from Proto-Celtic *tamesās (“river, waters”, literally “darkness”), a masculine ā-stem of *tames, Proto-Indo-European *tm̥Hes-, zero-grade of *témHes-, *témHos- (“darkness”), an s-stem from the root *temH- (“dark”). Related to Proto-Celtic *temeslos (“darkness”), *temos (“dark”). A parallel in Proto-Celtic of "dark, darkness" taking on the figurative meaning of "water" can also be found in Proto-Celtic *dubros (“water, dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (“dark”), yielding Welsh dŵr (“water”), Irish dobhar (“water, sea, dark, gloomy”). Hydronyms with their origin in this term also occur elsewhere in Europe, for example Portugal's Douro. Alternatively from Proto-Celtic *tā-, *tāyo- (“to melt, flow”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- (“to melt”), or from unknown non-Indo-European root. Possible cognates include the names of rivers and tributaries such as: * Taff, Tamar (from Latin Tamarus), Tame, Tavy, Team, Teifi (from Welsh Teifi, from Old Welsh Tebi, Teibi), Teme, and Teviot (Latin Tefius, Teifius) in Great Britain * Tambre (from Latin Tamaris), Támega (in Galician, Portuguese Tâmega, Latin Tamice), Támoga or Támboga (Latin Tamega), and Tamuxe, all of them flowing through Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal * Tamaran in France * Tammaro (from Latin Tamarus) in Italy * Demer in Belgium * Tamyras in Phoenicia * Tiberis (Tiber) * Tons, Tamasa (from Sanskrit तमसा (tamasā)) in India More at Thames.

This word in other languages

Tamise(Français)Themse(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • htames
  • tahmes
  • thaems
  • thamess
  • thammes
  • thamse
  • thhames
  • thmaes
  • tthames

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

htames2tahmes2thaems2thamess1thammes1thamse2thhames1thmaes2
Edit distance from "Thames"

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 "Thames"?
"Thames" is spelled T-H-A-M-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /tɛmz/.
What does "Thames" mean?
As a proper noun, "Thames" means: A river in southern England, flowing 336 km (209 mi.) from Gloucestershire, through Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Greater London, and between Essex and Kent to the ...
What words are commonly confused with "Thames"?
"Thames" is commonly confused with "times", "theme", "thats". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Thames"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Thames" is /tɛmz/. 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 "Thames"?
From Middle English Temese, from Old English Temes, Temese (compare Welsh Tafwys), from Latin Tamesis, Tamesas. Variant spellings with h arose in Middle English due to the mistaken assumption of a Greek etymology. The Latin name is from Proto-Bryt... 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 "Thames", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

taller#10,778thrive#10,782Sutton#10,776sorrow#10,772

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

sniper9 variantsshrine9 variantssacked9 variantsrevolt9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list