towpath

noun

"towpath" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“towpath” is uncommon English (frequency #66,356 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,356
frequency rank, English
27,828
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A path alongside a canal or river, originally for horses towing barges, now more often used as a footpath.

Key facts for towpath
PropertyValue
Headwordtowpath
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#66,356
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “towpath” 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). towpath lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

towpath is uncommon English at frequency #66,356 among 27,828 “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

  1. 1
    A path alongside a canal or river, originally for horses towing barges, now more often used as a footpath.

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"?
"towpath" is spelled T-O-W-P-A-T-H.
What does "towpath" mean?
As a noun, "towpath" means: A path alongside a canal or river, originally for horses towing barges, now more often used as a footpath.
What is the origin of the word "towpath"?
From tow + path. 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.

Using “towpath”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-O-W-P-A-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list