wiki
/ˈwɪki/
"wiki" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wiki” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,888 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,888
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A collaborative website which can be directly edited merely by using a web browser, often by anyone who has access to it.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wiki |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɪki/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #12,888 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wiki” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for wiki is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɪki/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,888 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A collaborative website which can be directly edited merely by using a web browser, often by anyone who has access to it.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for wiki, with forms such as "iwki", "wiik", and "wikki". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "win", "wit", "wis", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Polynesian *witi Hawaiian wiki Hawaiian wikiwikider. English wiki First appearance in 1995 in PC Week. Abbreviated from WikiWikiWeb, from Hawaiian wikiwiki (“quick”) + English web. The correct English form is wiki, spelled W-I-K-I.
Definition
- 1A collaborative website which can be directly edited merely by using a web browser, often by anyone who has access to it.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Polynesian *witi Hawaiian wiki Hawaiian wikiwikider. English wiki First appearance in 1995 in PC Week. Abbreviated from WikiWikiWeb, from Hawaiian wikiwiki (“quick”) + English web.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: iwki,wiik,wikki,wkii,wwiki
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wiki - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “wiki”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-I-K-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwɪki/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “win” - see the side-by-side comparison. wiki vs win
- 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.