winter
/ˈwɪntə/
"winter" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“winter” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,380 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,380
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Traditionally the fourth of the four seasons, typically regarded as spanning either the period between the winter solstice to the spring equinox, or the months of December, January, and February in...
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 | winter |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɪntə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,380 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “winter” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for winter is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɪntə/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,380 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for winter, with forms such as "iwnter", "winetr", and "winnter". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wiser", "wiper", "wonder", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English winter, from Old English winter, from Proto-West Germanic *wintru, from Proto-Germanic *wintruz (“winter”). Cognate with West Frisian winter (“winter”), Dutch winter (“winter”), German Winter (“winter”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian vin… The correct English form is winter, spelled W-I-N-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1Traditionally the fourth of the four seasons, typically regarded as spanning either the period between the winter solstice to the spring equinox, or the months of December, January, and February in temperate and polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the months of June, July, and August in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the time when the sun is lowest in the sky, resulting in short days, and the time of year with the lowest atmospheric temperatures for the region.
- 2The period of decay, old age, death, or the like.
- 3Someone with dark skin, eyes and hair, seen as best suited to certain colors of clothing.
- 4An appliance to be fixed on the front of a grate, to keep a kettle warm, etc.
- 5The rainy season.
Etymology
From Middle English winter, from Old English winter, from Proto-West Germanic *wintru, from Proto-Germanic *wintruz (“winter”). Cognate with West Frisian winter (“winter”), Dutch winter (“winter”), German Winter (“winter”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian vinter (“winter”), Icelandic vetur (“winter”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: iwnter,winetr,winnter,winterr,wintre,wintter,witner,wniter,wwinter
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of winter - 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 “winter”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-I-N-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwɪntə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “wiser” - see the side-by-side comparison. winter vs wiser
- 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.