weather vane
/ˈwɛð.ɚ veɪn/
"weather-vane" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“weather vane” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mechanical device rotating around one axis and attached to an elevated object such as a roof for showing the direction of the wind.
Corpus desk
Index EN-weather-vane · weather vane · English
weather vane · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | weather vane |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɛð.ɚ veɪn/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “weather vane” in English
Rare enough to double-check
weather vane is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwɛð.ɚ veɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for weather vane, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is weather vane, spelled W-E-A-T-H-E-R- -V-A-N-E.
Definition
- 1A mechanical device rotating around one axis and attached to an elevated object such as a roof for showing the direction of the wind.
- 2An indicator; something that reflects what the current situation is.
- 3A person or organization that changes their attitude and position based on the prevailing conditions rather than displaying any conviction.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how weather vane appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
From the graveyard gate one can count a dozen gayly painted farmhouses; the gilded weather-vanes on the big red barns wink at each other across the green and brown and yellow fields.
This one is surmounted by a clock-tower with a bent weather-vane - the latter being the only disorderly object in sight.
This word in other languages
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.