bailey
/ˈbeɪli/noun
bailey is spelled B-A-I-L-E-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,456th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bailey means “The outer wall of a feudal castle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bailey is baileys.
How many letters and syllables are in bailey?
| Letters | 6: B-A-I-L-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,456th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bailey?
Bailey appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,456th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bailey?
- /ˈbeɪli/
Bailey has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bailey.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Bailey.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bailey
- baileys plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bailey mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The outer wall of a feudal castle.
- 2
The space immediately within the outer wall of a castle or fortress.
- 3
A prison or court of justice.
the Old Bailey in London; the New Bailey in Manchester
- 4
An argument which is controversial and more difficult to defend (in the context of a motte and bailey fallacy).
noun
- 1
An apple cultivar from New York
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bailey in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Burgmauer , Burghof |
| Portuguese | paliçada |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bailey come from?
From Old French baile (“palisade, enclosure”), from Latin bacula, plural of baculum (“stick, rod”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).