Washington

/ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/

//ˈwɑʃɪŋtən// name

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

"washington" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Washington” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #892. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#892
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
16
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Capital: Olympia. Largest city: Seattle.

Corpus desk

Index EN-washington · Washington · English

Washington · rank #892 · 16 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-CORE #892
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH walk

Nearest frequency peer: walk (-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 “Washington”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Washington” 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).

Washington vs Warrington
80% similar

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

Key facts for Washington
PropertyValue
HeadwordWashington
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#892
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Washington”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).Washingtonlands 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 “walk” (#891), “bed” (#893), “union” (#890). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “Washington” is #892. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around Washington (IPA /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #892 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 52 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for Washington, with forms such as "awshington", "wahsington", and "washhington". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Warrington", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Washington (the town in Tyne and Wear, northeast England): probably from the Old English place name Hwæssingatūn (literally “a settlement of the household of *Hwæssa”), from *Hwæssa (a Saxon chieftain's name) + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“homestead, settl… The correct English form is Washington, spelled W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Capital: Olympia. Largest city: Seattle.
  2. 2
    Washington, D.C. (the capital city of the United States).
  3. 3
    Washington, D.C. (the capital city of the United States).
  4. 4
    An English habitational surname from Old English.
  5. 5
    An English habitational surname from Old English.
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    The federal government or administrative authority of the United States. From the capital city of Washington, D.C.
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    A male given name transferred from the surname, popular during the first century of American independence, given in honor of George Washington.
  52. 52
    Ellipsis of University of Washington.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The Skills Center, which is located on Amazon’s corporate headquarters campus in Seattle, Washington, and opens to the public November 22, is the first of its kind for the company. It’s part of a larger commitment to train 29 million people globally in cloud computing by 2025 that AWS made last year.
  2. Taiwanese presidents, including Tsai, have a record of travelling through the U.S. en route to other countries, usually for a day or two, though the U.S. government has generally avoided meeting senior Taiwanese officials in Washington.

Etymology

Washington (the town in Tyne and Wear, northeast England): probably from the Old English place name Hwæssingatūn (literally “a settlement of the household of *Hwæssa”), from *Hwæssa (a Saxon chieftain's name) + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“homestead, settlement”). It was attested in 1096 as Wasindone. Hwæssa is of uncertain origin, said to possibly correspond to waþ (“hunt”) + sige (“victory”), or possibly related to hwæte (“wheat”). There are other theories; more on Wikipedia. The surname derives from the town, and most places in the United States are named for George Washington.

Synonyms

DCD.C.District of ColumbiaWAWa.WaWashington stateWashington StateWASHWash.WashWSHWsh.Wsh

This word in other languages

Washington(Español)Washington(Français)Washington(Deutsch)Washington(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • awshington
  • wahsington
  • washhington
  • washignton
  • washinggton
  • washingotn
  • washingtno
  • washingtonn
  • washingtton
  • washinngton
  • washintgon
  • washnigton
  • wasihngton
  • wasshington
  • wsahington
  • wwashington

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Washington - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

awshington2wahsington2washhington1washignton2washinggton1washingotn2washingtno2washingtonn1
Edit distance from "Washington"

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 "Washington"?
"Washington" is spelled W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/.
What does "Washington" mean?
As a proper noun, "Washington" means: A state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Capital: Olympia. Largest city: Seattle.
What words are commonly confused with "Washington"?
"Washington" is commonly confused with "Warrington". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Washington"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Washington" is /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/. 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 "Washington"?
Washington (the town in Tyne and Wear, northeast England): probably from the Old English place name Hwæssingatūn (literally “a settlement of the household of *Hwæssa”), from *Hwæssa (a Saxon chieftain's name) + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“homest... 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 "Washington", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

considered#864technology#858management#773production#751

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

professional16 variantsconference16 variantsthemselves16 variantscompletely16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list