towpath
"towpath" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“towpath” is uncommon English (frequency #66,356 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #66,356
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A path alongside a canal or river, originally for horses towing barges, now more often used as a footpath.
Corpus desk
Index EN-towpath · towpath · English
towpath · rank #66,356 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #66,356
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH torturer
Nearest frequency peer: torturer (-2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “towpath”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- toboggan
toboggan
33,651 corpus weight
- toho
toho
33,650 corpus weight
- tormentor
tormentor
33,648 corpus weight
- torturer
torturer
33,647 corpus weight
- towpath
towpath
33,645 corpus weight
- traversal
traversal
33,641 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “towpath” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | towpath |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #66,356 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “towpath” in English
Rare enough to double-check
towpath is uncommon English at frequency #66,356 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A path alongside a canal or river, originally for horses towing barges, now more often used as a footpath.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for towpath in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From tow + path. The correct English form is towpath, spelled T-O-W-P-A-T-H.
Definition
- 1A path alongside a canal or river, originally for horses towing barges, now more often used as a footpath.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how towpath appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
From the 1960s, various local authorities became increasingly involved in improving the neglected waterway, and towpaths were progressively reopened as footpaths.
Etymology
From tow + path.
This word in other languages
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 "towpath"?
What does "towpath" mean?
What is the origin of the word "towpath"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "towpath", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).