World Wide Web
/ˈwɜːld ˌwaɪd ˈwɛb/
"world-wide-web" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“World Wide Web” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Usually preceded by the: all of the hypertext documents (web pages) on the Internet collectively, which are (1) stored in various inter-hyperlinked computers around the world, and (2) retrieved typ...
Corpus desk
Index EN-world-wide-web · World Wide Web · English
World Wide Web · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | World Wide Web |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɜːld ˌwaɪd ˈwɛb/ |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “World Wide Web” in English
Rare enough to double-check
World Wide Web is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈwɜːld ˌwaɪd ˈwɛb/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Usually preceded by the: all of the hypertext documents (web pages) on the Internet collectively, which are (1) stored in various inter-hyperlinked computers around the world, and (2) retrieved typ...".
No misspelling variants are generated for World Wide Web in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From worldwide + web. Coined by global system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet World Wide Web and Belgian engineer and computer scientist Robert Cailliau in a paper published on 12 November 1990 (see quotations below). The correct English form is World Wide Web, spelled W-O-R-L-D- -W-I-D-E- -W-E-B.
Definition
- 1Usually preceded by the: all of the hypertext documents (web pages) on the Internet collectively, which are (1) stored in various inter-hyperlinked computers around the world, and (2) retrieved typically by means of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or (currently more often) its secure version (HTTPS), among others.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how World Wide Web appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project [title] […] Having a world wide web implies some solutions must be found for problems such as different access protocols and different node content formats. These issues are addressed by our proposal.
Additionally, gateways exist so that WAIS users can retrieve information from non-WAIS data bases like Gopher, developed by university users of Next computers, and the World Wide Web, which makes available physicists' research from many locations.
Etymology
From worldwide + web. Coined by global system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet World Wide Web and Belgian engineer and computer scientist Robert Cailliau in a paper published on 12 November 1990 (see quotations below).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.