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windshield

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Detailed reference entry for the English word "windshield", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "windshield" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "windshield" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

The verdict

“windshield” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,059 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#17,059
frequency rank, English
10
letters
16
tracked misspellings

Dominant Wiktionary sense: A transparent screen made of glass, located at the front and back of a vehicle in front of its occupants to protect them from the wind force generated by the vehicle's speed and inclement weather.

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Key facts for windshield
PropertyValue
Headwordwindshield
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#17,059
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “windshield” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). windshield lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for windshield is 10 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #17,059 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for windshield, with forms such as "iwndshield", "widnshield", and "winddshield". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From wind + shield. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is windshield, spelled W-I-N-D-S-H-I-E-L-D, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A transparent screen made of glass, located at the front and back of a vehicle in front of its occupants to protect them from the wind force generated by the vehicle's speed and inclement weather.
  2. 2
    A cover for a microphone to exclude airy noises such as wind and breathing.
  3. 3
    A lightweight aerodynamic fairing mounted on the nose of an armor-piercing shell to reduce drag and increase range.

Etymology

From wind + shield.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: iwndshield,widnshield,winddshield,windhsield,windsheild,windshhield,windshiedl,windshieldd,windshielld,windshiled,windsiheld,windsshield,winndshield,winsdhield,wnidshield,wwindshield

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "windshield"

iwndshield2widnshield2winddshield1windhsield2windsheild2windshhield1windshiedl2windshieldd1
Edit distance from "windshield"

Frequency rank: #17,059 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "windshield"?
"windshield" is spelled W-I-N-D-S-H-I-E-L-D.
What does "windshield" mean?
As a noun, "windshield" means: A transparent screen made of glass, located at the front and back of a vehicle in front of its occupants to protect them from the wind force generated by the vehicle's speed and inclement weather.
What are common misspellings of "windshield"?
Common misspellings include "iwndshield", "widnshield", "winddshield", "windhsield", "windsheild". The correct spelling is "windshield".
What is the origin of the word "windshield"?
From wind + shield. 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.

Using “windshield”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is W-I-N-D-S-H-I-E-L-D — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter W in our English index:

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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.