Missal or missile?
missal is a noun meaning “A prayer book; a church service (book)”; missile is a noun meaning “Any object used as a weapon by being thrown or fired through the air, such as…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) missile is about 55 times as common as missal.
What is the difference between missal and missile?
| missal | missile | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | A prayer book; a church service (book) A book containing the prayers and responses needed when celebrating the Roman Catholic Mass throughout the year | Any object used as a weapon by being thrown or fired through the air, such as stone, arrow or bullet A self-propelled projectile whose trajectory can be adjusted after it is launched |
| Example | none recorded | The Rhodians, who used leaden bullets, were able to project their missiles twice as far as the Persian slingers, who used large stones |
| Forms | missals | missiles |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmɪsəl/ | /ˈmɪs.aɪl/ /ˈmɪs.(ə)l/ /-aɪl/ |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words | 14 times per million words |
Sources: missal and missile 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 missal and missile
missal
- 1
A prayer book; a church service (book)
- 2
A book containing the prayers and responses needed when celebrating the Roman Catholic Mass throughout the year
missile
- 1
Any object used as a weapon by being thrown or fired through the air, such as stone, arrow or bullet
The Rhodians, who used leaden bullets, were able to project their missiles twice as far as the Persian slingers, who used large stones
- 2
A self-propelled projectile whose trajectory can be adjusted after it is launched
That missile is explosive enough to kill hundreds
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, missal or missile?
missal appears about once in every 4 million words; missile 14 times per million words.
missal about once in every 4 million wordsmissile 14 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).