winding
/ˈwɪndɪŋ/
"winding" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“winding” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,155. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #11,155
- frequency rank, English
- 1,759
- “W” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - gerund of wind
Corpus desk
Index EN-winding · winding · English
winding · rank #11,155 · 11 variants · 18 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,155
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,759
- PHOTO-FINISH wildly
Nearest frequency peer: wildly (-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 “winding”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- volcanic
volcanic
88,849 corpus weight
- Wagner
Wagner
88,848 corpus weight
- wildly
wildly
88,847 corpus weight
- winding
winding
88,846 corpus weight
- acclaimed
acclaimed
88,845 corpus weight
- accumulated
accumulated
88,844 corpus weight
What this shows “winding” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | winding |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɪndɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #11,155 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “winding”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around winding (IPA /ˈwɪndɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,155 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for winding, with forms such as "iwnding", "widning", and "windding". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "wiring", "wiping", "winning", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English winding, windinge, wyndynge (“act of exposing something to the wind, airing, ventilating; act of winnowing (?)”), from winden, wynden (“to expose (something) to the air or wind, ventilate; to cause (someone) to be out… The correct English form is winding, spelled W-I-N-D-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1gerund of wind
- 2gerund of wind
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how winding appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Novv their opinions of the end of the vvorld, of Paradiſe, and of hell; exceede the vanity of dreames, and all old vviues fables. They ſay, that at the vvinding of a horne not only all fleſh ſhall die, but the Angels themſelues: & that the earth vvith earthquakes ſhall be kneaded together like a lumpe of dough, for forty daies ſo continuing.
[W]e savv a Fox run by the Foot of our Mount into an adjacent Thicket. A fevv Minutes after, vve heard a confuſed Noiſe of the opening of Hounds, the vvinding of Horns, and the roaring of Country Squires.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English winding, windinge, wyndynge (“act of exposing something to the wind, airing, ventilating; act of winnowing (?)”), from winden, wynden (“to expose (something) to the air or wind, ventilate; to cause (someone) to be out of breath; to winnow (wheat); of an animal: to catch the scent of (someone or something)”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming gerund nouns, and the present participle forms of verbs). The adjective is derived from the verb. The English word is analysable as wind (“to blow air through (a wind instrument or horn) to make a sound; to cause (someone) to become breathless; to winnow (food grain), etc.”) + -ing (suffix forming present participial adjectives and verbs, and nouns denoting an action or the embodiment of an action).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- iwnding
- widning
- windding
- windign
- windingg
- windinng
- windnig
- winidng
- winnding
- wniding
- wwinding
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of winding - 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.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "winding", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).