weapon

/ˈwɛp.ən/

//ˈwɛp.ən// noun

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

"weapon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“weapon” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,812. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,812
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An instrument of attack or defense in combat or hunting, e.g. most guns, missiles, or swords.

Corpus desk

Index EN-weapon · weapon · English

weapon · rank #2,812 · 8 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,812
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH soviet

Nearest frequency peer: soviet (-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 “weapon”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “weapon” 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).

weapon vs Weston
50% similar
weapon vs Wesson
50% similar
weapon vs Weldon
50% similar

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

Key facts for weapon
PropertyValue
Headwordweapon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈwɛp.ən/
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,812
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “weapon”

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).weaponlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “soviet” (#2,811), “wet” (#2,813), “sing” (#2,810). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “weapon” is #2,812. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around weapon (IPA /ˈwɛp.ən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,812 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for weapon, with forms such as "ewapon", "waepon", and "weaopn". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "Weston", "Wesson", "Weldon", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wepen, from Old English wǣpn, from Proto-West Germanic *wāpn, from Proto-Germanic *wēpną (“weapon”), of unknown origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wēbnom. Cognates Cognate with Scots weepon (“weapon”), North Frisian woopen (“weap… The correct English form is weapon, spelled W-E-A-P-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An instrument of attack or defense in combat or hunting, e.g. most guns, missiles, or swords.
  2. 2
    An instrument or other means of harming or exerting control over another.
  3. 3
    A tool of any kind.
  4. 4
    An idiot, an oaf, a fool, a tool; a contemptible or incompetent person.
  5. 5
    A very skilled, competent, or capable person or thing worthy of awe.
  6. 6
    The human genitals.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The club that is now mostly used for golf was once a common weapon.
  2. Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more…

Etymology

From Middle English wepen, from Old English wǣpn, from Proto-West Germanic *wāpn, from Proto-Germanic *wēpną (“weapon”), of unknown origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wēbnom. Cognates Cognate with Scots weepon (“weapon”), North Frisian woopen (“weapon”), Saterland Frisian Woapen (“weapon”), West Frisian wapen (“weapon; coat of arms”), Alemannic German Waaffe (“tool”), Dutch wapen (“weapon”), German Waffe (“weapon”) and Wappen (“coat of arms”), Luxembourgish Waff (“weapon”), Yiddish וואָפֿן (vofn, “weapon”), Danish våben (“weapon; coat of arms”), Faroese vákn, vápn (“weapon; whaling lance”), Icelandic vopn (“weapon”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk våpen (“weapon”), Swedish vapen (“weapon; coat of arms”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐍀𐌽 (wēpn, “weapon”).

Synonyms

weaponarmarmament

This word in other languages

arma(Español)arme(Français)Waffe(Deutsch)arma(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ewapon
  • waepon
  • weaopn
  • weapno
  • weaponn
  • weappon
  • wepaon
  • wweapon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of weapon - 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.

ewapon2waepon2weaopn2weapno2weaponn1weappon1wepaon2wweapon1
Edit distance from "weapon"

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 "weapon"?
"weapon" is spelled W-E-A-P-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɛp.ən/.
What does "weapon" mean?
As a noun, "weapon" means: An instrument of attack or defense in combat or hunting, e.g. most guns, missiles, or swords.
What words are commonly confused with "weapon"?
"weapon" is commonly confused with "Weston", "Wesson", "Weldon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "weapon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "weapon" is /ˈwɛp.ən/. 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 "weapon"?
From Middle English wepen, from Old English wǣpn, from Proto-West Germanic *wāpn, from Proto-Germanic *wēpną (“weapon”), of unknown origin, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wēbnom. Cognates Cognate with Scots weepon (“weapon”), North Frisian woo... 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 "weapon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

soviet#2,811widely#2,814manage#2,798deaths#2,827

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

sight8 variantsprint8 variantsdrawn8 variantsempire8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list