weather vane
/ˈwɛð.ɚ veɪn/
"weather-vane" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“weather vane” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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.
| 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) |
Where “weather vane” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for weather vane is 12 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɛð.ɚ veɪn/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “weather vane”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-E-A-T-H-E-R- -V-A-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwɛð.ɚ veɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.