waterline
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
9 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "waterline", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "waterline" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "waterline" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
waterline is aEnglishnoun. It means: A line formed by the surface of the water on the hull of a ship when she is afloat; any of a series of short lines marked on the hull to show where the waterline would be under different loadings Pronounced /ˈwɔːtə(ɹ)laɪn/. Often confused with waterside and watering.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | waterline |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɔːtə(ɹ)laɪn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #45,742 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for waterline is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɔːtə(ɹ)laɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #45,742 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for waterline, with forms such as "awterline", "waetrline", and "watelrine". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "waterside", "watering", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From water + line. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is waterline, spelled W-A-T-E-R-L-I-N-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A line formed by the surface of the water on the hull of a ship when she is afloat; any of a series of short lines marked on the hull to show where the waterline would be under different loadings
- 2A horizontal line indicating the shape of an airfoil.
- 3A line showing where the water has been, usually a line separating dry land and wet areas; a watermark or tidemark.
- 4The inner rim of the eyelid, just behind the lash line; primarily used in reference to the application of eyeliner.
Etymology
From water + line.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: awterline,waetrline,watelrine,waterilne,waterlien,waterlinne,waterlline,waterlnie,waterrline,watreline,watterline,wtaerline,wwaterline
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for waterline
Misspelling Variants of "waterline"
Frequency rank: #45,742 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "waterline"?
What does "waterline" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "waterline"?
How do you pronounce "waterline"?
What is the origin of the word "waterline"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter W in our English index: