harbour

verb

The verdict

“harbour” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #39,828. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#39,828
frequency rank, French
109,908
“H” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Abriter.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

harbour vs Harcourt
63% similar
harbour vs harbor
86% similar
harbour vs Hambourg
63% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for harbour
PropertyValue
Headwordharbour
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
Letters7
Frequency rank#39,828
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “harbour” sits in French 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). harbour lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around harbour, averb. Corpus frequency is #39,828 among 109,908 “H” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Abriter.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for harbour, with forms such as "ahrbour", "habrour", and "harbbour". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Harcourt", "harbor", "Hambourg", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is harbour, spelled H-A-R-B-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Abriter.

Synonyms

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ahrbour,habrour,harbbour,harboru,harbourr,harbuor,harobur,harrbour,hharbour,hrabour

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ahrbour2habrour2harbbour1harboru2harbourr1harbuor2harobur2harrbour1
Edit distance from "harbour"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "harbour"?
"harbour" is spelled H-A-R-B-O-U-R.
What does "harbour" mean?
As a verb, "harbour" means: Abriter.
What words are commonly confused with "harbour"?
"harbour" is commonly confused with "Harcourt", "harbor", "Hambourg". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "harbour" come from?
"harbour" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “harbour”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is H-A-R-B-O-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “Harcourt” - see the side-by-side comparison. harbour vs Harcourt
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Same frequency band

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list