watercolour

/ˈwɔ.tɜˌkʌ.lɜ/

//ˈwɔ.tɜˌkʌ.lɜ// noun

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

"watercolour" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“watercolour” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #31,827. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#31,827
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 water-soluble pigment or paint.

Corpus desk

Index EN-watercolour · watercolour · English

watercolour · rank #31,827 · 16 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #31,827
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH Wadsworth

Nearest frequency peer: Wadsworth (-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 “watercolour”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “watercolour” 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).

watercolour vs watercolor
91% similar

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

Key facts for watercolour
PropertyValue
Headwordwatercolour
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈwɔ.tɜˌkʌ.lɜ/
Letters11
Frequency rank#31,827
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “watercolour”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).watercolourlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Wadsworth” (#31,826), “wedded” (#31,828), “VoIP” (#31,825). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “watercolour” is #31,827. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around watercolour (IPA /ˈwɔ.tɜˌkʌ.lɜ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #31,827 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for watercolour, with forms such as "awtercolour", "waetrcolour", and "watecrolour". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "watercolor", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From water + colour. The correct English form is watercolour, spelled W-A-T-E-R-C-O-L-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A water-soluble pigment or paint.
  2. 2
    A painting made by using such pigment.
  3. 3
    This kind of painting as a genre.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Jim's aunt uses only watercolours to paint her pictures.
  2. Jim's aunt paints beautiful watercolours.

Etymology

From water + colour.

This word in other languages

acuarela(Español)aquarelle(Français)Wasserfarbe(Deutsch)aquarela(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • awtercolour
  • waetrcolour
  • watecrolour
  • waterccolour
  • watercloour
  • watercollour
  • watercoloru
  • watercolourr
  • watercoluor
  • watercoolur
  • wateroclour
  • waterrcolour
  • watrecolour
  • wattercolour
  • wtaercolour
  • wwatercolour

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of watercolour - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

awtercolour2waetrcolour2watecrolour2waterccolour1watercloour2watercollour1watercoloru2watercolourr1
Edit distance from "watercolour"

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 "watercolour"?
"watercolour" is spelled W-A-T-E-R-C-O-L-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɔ.tɜˌkʌ.lɜ/.
What does "watercolour" mean?
As a noun, "watercolour" means: A water-soluble pigment or paint.
What words are commonly confused with "watercolour"?
"watercolour" is commonly confused with "watercolor". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "watercolour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "watercolour" is /ˈwɔ.tɜˌkʌ.lɜ/. 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 "watercolour"?
From water + colour. 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 "watercolour", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

vindication#31,819ventricular#31,815unfulfilled#31,811concealment#31,928

Similar misspelling depth

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

substation16 variantsBloomsbury16 variantsBolsheviks16 variantsbronchitis16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list