Washington, D.C.

Name: Washington, D.C., English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈwɑʃɪŋtən ˈdiː ˌsiː/

//ˈwɑʃɪŋtən ˈdiː ˌsiː// name

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“Washington, D.C.” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English: 16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The capital city of the United States, formally known as the District of Columbia. Abbreviated as D.C. or DC.

Corpus desk

Index EN-washington-d-c · Washington, D.C. · English

Washington, D.C. · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
LEN-MEGA 16 letters
VOW-3 3 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-0 0 variants
BOOK-THIN "W" thin
PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for Washington, D.C.
Property	Value
Headword	Washington, D.C.
Language	English
Part of speech	Proper noun
IPA	/ˈwɑʃɪŋtən ˈdiː ˌsiː/
Letters	16
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Washington, D.C.” sits in English frequency

Washington, D.C.sits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Washington, D.C. is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən ˈdiː ˌsiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The capital city of the United States, formally known as the District of Columbia. Abbreviated as D.C. or DC.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Washington, D.C., since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Named for George Washington. The name "Washington, D.C." (analogous in form to "Richmond, VA") reflects the fact that at the time of its founding, it was only one of three cities in D.C., alongside Georgetown and Alexandria. (In 1871, Congress repealed the … The correct English form is Washington, D.C., spelled W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N-,- -D-.-C-..

Definition

1
The capital city of the United States, formally known as the District of Columbia. Abbreviated as D.C. or DC.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

Washington, D.C., with its wide streets, confounding roundabouts, marble statues, Doric columns, and domes, is supposed to feel like ancient Rome (that is, if the streets of ancient Rome were lined with homeless black people, bomb-sniffing dogs, tour buses, and cherry blossoms).

Etymology

Named for George Washington. The name "Washington, D.C." (analogous in form to "Richmond, VA") reflects the fact that at the time of its founding, it was only one of three cities in D.C., alongside Georgetown and Alexandria. (In 1871, Congress repealed the charters of Georgetown and Washington and created a unitary territorial government for the whole District of Columbia.)

This word in other languages

Washington D. C.(Español)Washington(Français)Washington, D.C.(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Washington, D.C."?

"Washington, D.C." is spelled W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N-,- -D-.-C-.. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən ˈdiː ˌsiː/.

What does "Washington, D.C." mean?

As a proper noun, "Washington, D.C." means: The capital city of the United States, formally known as the District of Columbia. Abbreviated as D.C. or DC.

How do you pronounce "Washington, D.C."?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Washington, D.C." is /ˈwɑʃɪŋtən ˈdiː ˌsiː/. 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, D.C."?

Named for George Washington. The name "Washington, D.C." (analogous in form to "Richmond, VA") reflects the fact that at the time of its founding, it was only one of three cities in D.C., alongside Georgetown and Alexandria. (In 1871, Congress rep... See the full etymology section above for more details.

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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.