Wednesday

/ˈwɛnz.deɪ/

//ˈwɛnz.deɪ// noun

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

"wednesday" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Wednesday” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,566. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,566
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The fourth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the third day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wednesday · Wednesday · English

Wednesday · rank #2,566 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,566
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH wars

Nearest frequency peer: wars (-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 “Wednesday”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Wednesday” 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).

Wednesday vs Wednesdays
90% similar

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

Key facts for Wednesday
PropertyValue
HeadwordWednesday
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈwɛnz.deɪ/
Letters9
Frequency rank#2,566
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Wednesday”

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).Wednesdaylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “wars” (#2,565), “admit” (#2,567), “warning” (#2,564). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “Wednesday” is #2,566. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around Wednesday (IPA /ˈwɛnz.deɪ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,566 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The fourth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the third day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for Wednesday, with forms such as "ewdnesday", "wdenesday", and "weddnesday". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Wednesdays", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Wednesday, from unattested Old English *wēdnesdæġ (“Wednesday”), synchronically an i-mutated form of attested wōdnesdæġ (itself from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdanas dag, its reflex Middle English Wodnesdei falling into disuse), from Proto-W… The correct English form is Wednesday, spelled W-E-D-N-E-S-D-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The fourth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the third day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. US District Judge James Boasberg ruled Wednesday that “probable cause exists” to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for violating his orders in mid-March halting the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.

Etymology

From Middle English Wednesday, from unattested Old English *wēdnesdæġ (“Wednesday”), synchronically an i-mutated form of attested wōdnesdæġ (itself from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdanas dag, its reflex Middle English Wodnesdei falling into disuse), from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdinas dag also attested in Old Frisian wednesdei and Middle Dutch wenesdach. In any case, a calque (interpretātiō germānica) of Latin diēs Mercuriī (“day of Mercury”) and Koine Ancient Greek ἡμέρα (hēméra, “day”) Ἑρμοῦ (Hermoû, “of Hermes”), via an association of the god Odin (“Woden”) with Mercury and Hermes. See also Japanese 水曜日 (“Mercury's day”). Cognates Cognate with Scots Wadensday (“Wednesday”), Yola Wennesdei (“Wednesday”), West Frisian woansdei (“Wednesday”), Afrikaans Woensdag (“Wednesday”), Central Franconian Jodesdaach (“Wednesday”), Dutch, West Flemish woensdag (“Wednesday”), Dutch Low Saxon woensdag, woonsdag, wonsdag (“Wednesday”), German Wodenstag, Wotanstag (“Wednesday”), Low German Goonsdag, Woonsdag (“Wednesday”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish onsdag (“Wednesday”), Faroese ónsdagur (“Wednesday”), Icelandic óðinsdagur (“Wednesday”).

Synonyms

hump dayWedWed.Weds

This word in other languages

miércoles(Español)mercredi(Français)Mittwoch(Deutsch)quarta-feira(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ewdnesday
  • wdenesday
  • weddnesday
  • wedensday
  • wednedsay
  • wednesady
  • wednesdayy
  • wednesdday
  • wednesdya
  • wednessday
  • wednnesday
  • wednseday
  • wendesday
  • wwednesday

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Wednesday - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ewdnesday2wdenesday2weddnesday1wedensday2wednedsay2wednesady2wednesdayy1wednesdday1
Edit distance from "Wednesday"

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 "Wednesday"?
"Wednesday" is spelled W-E-D-N-E-S-D-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɛnz.deɪ/.
What does "Wednesday" mean?
As a noun, "Wednesday" means: The fourth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the third day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday.
What words are commonly confused with "Wednesday"?
"Wednesday" is commonly confused with "Wednesdays". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Wednesday"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Wednesday" is /ˈwɛnz.deɪ/. 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 "Wednesday"?
From Middle English Wednesday, from unattested Old English *wēdnesdæġ (“Wednesday”), synchronically an i-mutated form of attested wōdnesdæġ (itself from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdanas dag, its reflex Middle English Wodnesdei falling into disuse), fr... 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 "Wednesday", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

conducted#2,571dedicated#2,573receiving#2,552represent#2,594

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

controlled14 variantsboyfriend14 variantsassistance14 variantspermanent14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list