bailiff

/ˈbeɪlɪf/

//ˈbeɪlɪf// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bailiff" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bailiff” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,829. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,829
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An officer of the court

Corpus desk

Index EN-bailiff · bailiff · English

bailiff · rank #28,829 · 8 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,829
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bagging

Nearest frequency peer: bagging (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “bailiff”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “bailiff” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bailiff vs bailing
71% similar
bailiff vs bailiffs
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bailiff
PropertyValue
Headwordbailiff
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbeɪlɪf/
Letters7
Frequency rank#28,829
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bailiff”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).bailifflands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “bagging” (#28,828), “banda” (#28,830), “backpacking” (#28,827). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bailiff” is #28,829. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around bailiff (IPA /ˈbeɪlɪf/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,829 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 19 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for bailiff, with forms such as "abiliff", "baiilff", and "bailfif". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "bailing", "bailiffs", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English baillif, baylyf, from Anglo-Norman and Old French bailif (plural bailis), probably from Vulgar Latin *bāiulivus (“castellan”), from Latin bāiulus (“porter; steward”), whence also bail. As a translation of foreign titles, semantic loan fr… The correct English form is bailiff, spelled B-A-I-L-I-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    An officer of the court
  2. 2
    An officer of the court
  3. 3
    An officer of the court
  4. 4
    An officer of the court
  5. 5
    An officer of the court
  6. 6
    A public administrator
  7. 7
    A public administrator
  8. 8
    A public administrator
  9. 9
    A public administrator
  10. 10
    A public administrator
  11. 11
    A public administrator
  12. 12
    A public administrator
  13. 13
    A public administrator
  14. 14
    A public administrator
  15. 15
    A public administrator
  16. 16
    A private administrator, particularly
  17. 17
    A private administrator, particularly
  18. 18
    A private administrator, particularly
  19. 19
    Any debt collector, regardless of his or her official status.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bailiff appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The Bailiff of Jersey is the President of the States and acts as Speaker of the Assembly in the Westminster tradition. He is responsible for the orderly conduct of the States Assembly and its business. As Presiding Officer he has the right of speech – which is mainly exercised for ensuring the orderly conduct of the proceedings – but he cannot vote.
  2. Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.

Etymology

From Middle English baillif, baylyf, from Anglo-Norman and Old French bailif (plural bailis), probably from Vulgar Latin *bāiulivus (“castellan”), from Latin bāiulus (“porter; steward”), whence also bail. As a translation of foreign titles, semantic loan from French bailli, Scots bailie, Dutch baljuw, etc. Mostly replaced the role of native reeve. Doublet of bailo.

Synonyms

high bailiffhigh-bailiffwarrant officerbeadlecatchpollbumbailiffprocess serverHigh-bailiffHigh Bailiffmayorcastellanbaillybailieconsulcapitouljuratlandvogtstewardoverseer

This word in other languages

alguacil(Español)huissier(Français)Gerichtsvollzieher(Deutsch)oficial de justiça(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abiliff
  • baiilff
  • bailfif
  • bailif
  • bailliff
  • baliiff
  • bbailiff
  • bialiff

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bailiff - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

abiliff2baiilff2bailfif2bailif1bailliff1baliiff2bbailiff1bialiff2
Edit distance from "bailiff"

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

How do you spell "bailiff"?
"bailiff" is spelled B-A-I-L-I-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbeɪlɪf/.
What does "bailiff" mean?
As a noun, "bailiff" means: An officer of the court
What words are commonly confused with "bailiff"?
"bailiff" is commonly confused with "bailing", "bailiffs". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bailiff"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bailiff" is /ˈbeɪlɪf/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bailiff"?
From Middle English baillif, baylyf, from Anglo-Norman and Old French bailif (plural bailis), probably from Vulgar Latin *bāiulivus (“castellan”), from Latin bāiulus (“porter; steward”), whence also bail. As a translation of foreign titles, semant... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bailiff", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bagging#28,828austere#28,822blister#28,840Aldrich#28,809

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

beamed8 variantsbluffs8 variantswhy's8 variantsUranus8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list