aileron
/ˈeɪləɹɒn/
"aileron" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“aileron” is an uncommon English word, ranked #81,085 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #81,085
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The hinged part on the trailing edge of an airplane wing, used to control longitudinal turns.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | aileron |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈeɪləɹɒn/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #81,085 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “aileron” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for aileron is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈeɪləɹɒn/. Corpus data places it at rank #81,085 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for aileron, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French aileron, diminutive of aile (“wing”), also refers to the extremities of a bird's wings used to control their flight. It first appeared in print in the 7th edition of Cassell's French-English Dictionary of 1877, with its lead meaning of … The correct English form is aileron, spelled A-I-L-E-R-O-N.
Definition
- 1The hinged part on the trailing edge of an airplane wing, used to control longitudinal turns.
- 2A half gable, as at the end of a penthouse or of the aisle of a church.
Etymology
Borrowed from French aileron, diminutive of aile (“wing”), also refers to the extremities of a bird's wings used to control their flight. It first appeared in print in the 7th edition of Cassell's French-English Dictionary of 1877, with its lead meaning of "small wing". In the context of powered airplanes it appears in print about 1908, in the French aviation journal L'Aérophile.
This word in other languages
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
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Using “aileron”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-I-L-E-R-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈeɪləɹɒn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.