wellspring
/ˈwɛlsprɪŋ/
"wellspring" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wellspring” is an uncommon English word, ranked #61,215 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #61,215
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The source of water for a stream, spring or well; a fountainhead; a wellhead.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wellspring |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɛlsprɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #61,215 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wellspring” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for wellspring is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɛlsprɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #61,215 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for wellspring in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wellespring, from Old English wiellspring, wiellġespring (“spring, fount, fountain”), corresponding to well + spring. More at well, spring. The correct English form is wellspring, spelled W-E-L-L-S-P-R-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1The source of water for a stream, spring or well; a fountainhead; a wellhead.
- 2A perennial source of anything; a fountainhead of supply or emanation; resource.
Etymology
From Middle English wellespring, from Old English wiellspring, wiellġespring (“spring, fount, fountain”), corresponding to well + spring. More at well, spring.
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
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Using “wellspring”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-E-L-L-S-P-R-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwɛlsprɪŋ/ (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.