Wellington

/ˈwɛlɪŋtən/

//ˈwɛlɪŋtən// name

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

"wellington" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Wellington” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,420. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,420
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 capital city of New Zealand in the Wellington region.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wellington · Wellington · English

Wellington · rank #9,420 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,420
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH vocabulary

Nearest frequency peer: vocabulary (-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 “Wellington”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “Wellington” 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).

Wellington vs Wilmington
80% similar

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

Key facts for Wellington
PropertyValue
HeadwordWellington
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈwɛlɪŋtən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#9,420
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Wellington”

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).Wellingtonlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “vocabulary” (#9,419), “whoa” (#9,421), “verses” (#9,418). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “Wellington” is #9,420. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around Wellington (IPA /ˈwɛlɪŋtən/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #9,420 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 38 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for Wellington, with forms such as "ewllington", "welilngton", and "welington". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Wilmington", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier Wēolingtūn, from: # For the place in Shropshire, England: Partly uncertain. The second element from Old English tūn (“estate”), while the first element could come either from *wœling (“ridge, bank”), or else from *wēoling (“device, artefact”). … The correct English form is Wellington, spelled W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The capital city of New Zealand in the Wellington region.
  2. 2
    by extension, the Government of New Zealand.
  3. 3
    A region in the south of the North Island, New Zealand, which includes the capital; in full, Wellington Region.
  4. 4
    Some places in England:
  5. 5
    Some places in England:
  6. 6
    Some places in England:
  7. 7
    Some places in England:
  8. 8
    Any of several places in a select number of countries, including:
  9. 9
    Any of several places in a select number of countries, including:
  10. 10
    A number of places in Australia:
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    A number of places in Australia:
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    A number of places in Canada:
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    A number of places in the United States:
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    A number of places in the United States:
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    A number of places in the United States:
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    A number of places in the United States:
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    A number of places in the United States:
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  35. 35
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  36. 36
    A number of places in the United States:
  37. 37
    Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, British soldier and statesman.
  38. 38
    A habitational surname from Old English from the places in England.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Abbreviation: Wgton.
  2. After two pylonless months, July's pylon comes all the way from the hills outside Wellington, New Zealand.

Etymology

From earlier Wēolingtūn, from: # For the place in Shropshire, England: Partly uncertain. The second element from Old English tūn (“estate”), while the first element could come either from *wœling (“ridge, bank”), or else from *wēoling (“device, artefact”). # For the place in Somerset, England: Partly obscure. The last element from Old English tūn (“estate”), while the first element could come from either the personal name *Wēola + ing, or else *wēoling (“trap”). # Many places with this name are named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, British soldier and statesman.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ewllington
  • welilngton
  • welington
  • wellignton
  • wellinggton
  • wellingotn
  • wellingtno
  • wellingtonn
  • wellingtton
  • wellinngton
  • wellintgon
  • wellnigton
  • wlelington
  • wwellington

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Wellington - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ewllington2welilngton2welington1wellignton2wellinggton1wellingotn2wellingtno2wellingtonn1
Edit distance from "Wellington"

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 "Wellington"?
"Wellington" is spelled W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɛlɪŋtən/.
What does "Wellington" mean?
As a proper noun, "Wellington" means: The capital city of New Zealand in the Wellington region.
What words are commonly confused with "Wellington"?
"Wellington" is commonly confused with "Wilmington". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Wellington"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Wellington" is /ˈwɛlɪŋtən/. 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 "Wellington"?
From earlier Wēolingtūn, from: # For the place in Shropshire, England: Partly uncertain. The second element from Old English tūn (“estate”), while the first element could come either from *wœling (“ridge, bank”), or else from *wēoling (“device, ar... 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 "Wellington", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

vocabulary#9,419algorithms#9,433structured#9,401redemption#9,389

Similar misspelling depth

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

willingness14 variantscarpenter14 variantspracticed14 variantsoverlooked14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list