English homophones
bel/bell/belle
"bell" (#2,515 written frequency) beats "belle" (#9,706) in this 3-word /bɛl/ cluster. Size rank #30 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 3 spellings keep the same /bɛl/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "bell" leads at #2,515, with "belle" trailing at #9,706.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "bel" then splits - "bel" (3 letters) vs "bell" (4).
- Shared stem "bel" then splits - "bel" (3 letters) vs "belle" (5).
- Shared stem "bell" then splits - "bell" (4 letters) vs "belle" (5).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across bel, bell, belle: bel. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
bel
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory bel · no private letters vs siblings
bell
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory bel · no private letters vs siblings
belle
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCV
Inventory bel · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "bel" when you mean: A measure of relative power, defined as log₁₀(P ₁/P ₂), where P₁ and P₂ are the measured and reference power respectively.
- Write "bell" when you mean: A percussive instrument made of metal or other hard material, typically but not always in the shape of an inverted cup with a flared rim,…
- Write "belle" when you mean: An attractive woman.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
noun · /bɛl/ · #16,644 frequency
A measure of relative power, defined as log₁₀(P ₁/P ₂), where P₁ and P₂ are the measured and reference power respectively.
noun · /bɛl/ · #2,515 frequency
A percussive instrument made of metal or other hard material, typically but not always in the shape of an inverted cup with a flared rim, which resonates when struck.
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 3-spelling cluster (bel, bell, belle). Here's where to go from here.
- "bell" is the most frequent headword in this 3-spelling cluster (rank #2,515 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 3 spellings ranks #30 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 3-spelling cluster: be · bee · Bea. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "bel, bell, belle" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.