waterborne

adj

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

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

The verdict

“waterborne” is uncommon English (frequency #54,562 among 12,113 “W” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,562
frequency rank, English
12,113
“W” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Transported or transmitted by water.

Key facts for waterborne
PropertyValue
Headwordwaterborne
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters10
Frequency rank#54,562
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “waterborne” 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). waterborne 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

waterborne is uncommon English at frequency #54,562 among 12,113 “W” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for waterborne in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From water + -borne. The correct English form is waterborne, spelled W-A-T-E-R-B-O-R-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Transported or transmitted by water.
  2. 2
    Floating on the water; afloat.

Etymology

From water + -borne.

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 "waterborne"?
"waterborne" is spelled W-A-T-E-R-B-O-R-N-E.
What does "waterborne" mean?
As an adjective, "waterborne" means: Transported or transmitted by water.
What is the origin of the word "waterborne"?
From water + -borne. 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 “waterborne”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is W-A-T-E-R-B-O-R-N-E - 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