Ile or isle?
ile is a suffix meaning “Tending to, or capable of”; isle is a noun meaning “An island, usually very small. Compare with islet”. They sound the same (/aɪl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) isle is about 9.3 times as common as ile.
What is the difference between ile and isle?
| ile | isle | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, suffix, prefix | noun |
| Meaning | Tending to, or capable of Any of the values in a sorted data set that splits it into a specified number of equally sized groups | An island, usually very small. Compare with islet |
| Example | quint- + -ile → quintile | none recorded |
| Forms | %iles | isles |
| Pronunciation | /aɪl/ | /aɪ̯l/ |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words | 6.8 times per million words |
Sources: ile and isle in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of ile and isle
ile
- 1
Alternative form of ail (“awn”)
- 2
Tending to, or capable of
- 3
Abbreviation of percentile
- 4
Alternative form of ileo- (before a vowel)
- 5
Any of the values in a sorted data set that splits it into a specified number of equally sized groups
quint- + -ile → quintile
- 6
Any of the groups formed from the division
quint- + -ile → quintile
isle
- 1
An island, usually very small. Compare with islet
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, ile or isle?
ile appears about once in every 1 million words; isle 6.8 times per million words.
ile about once in every 1 million wordsisle 6.8 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).