Yankee
/ˈjæŋ.ki/
"yankee" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Yankee” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,081 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,081
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:
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 | Yankee |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈjæŋ.ki/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #13,081 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Yankee” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Yankee is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈjæŋ.ki/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,081 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Yankee, with forms such as "aynkee", "yaknee", and "yaneke". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "yank", "yanked", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1765, when it was described as "a name of derision … given by the Southern people on the Continent to those of New England". Various suggestions have been made as to its origin: that it derives from a Cherokee word meaning "slave" or "cowa… The correct English form is Yankee, spelled Y-A-N-K-E-E.
Definition
- 1A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:
- 2A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:
- 3A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:
- 4A native or inhabitant of some part of the United States:
- 5Any individual associated with the Union; that is, the United States federal government, during the American Civil War.
- 6A player for the New York Yankees.
- 7A large triangular headsail used in light or moderate winds and set on the fore topmast stay. Unlike a genoa it does not fill the whole fore triangle, but is set in combination with the working staysail.
- 8A wager on four selections, consisting of 11 separate bets: six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold accumulator.
Etymology
First attested in 1765, when it was described as "a name of derision … given by the Southern people on the Continent to those of New England". Various suggestions have been made as to its origin: that it derives from a Cherokee word meaning "slave" or "coward" and was applied to the New Englanders by the Virginians because the former refused to aid the latter in a war against the Cherokees; that it derives from Yengees, an Indian corruption of English; and that it derives from Janke, a pet form of the common Dutch forename Jan. The OED regards the last of these as "perhaps the most plausible".
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aynkee,yaknee,yaneke,yanke,yankkee,yannkee,ynakee,yyankee
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Yankee - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
How do you spell "Yankee"?
What does "Yankee" mean?
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Using “Yankee”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Y-A-N-K-E-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈjæŋ.ki/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “yank” - see the side-by-side comparison. Yankee vs yank
- 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.