balm
/bɑːm/
"balm" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“balm” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,852 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #20,852
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of various aromatic resins exuded from certain plants, especially trees of the genus Commiphora of Africa, Arabia and India and Myroxylon of South America.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | balm |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɑːm/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #20,852 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “balm” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for balm is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɑːm/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,852 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for balm, with forms such as "ablm", "ballm", and "balmm". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "BL", "BM", "bar", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English bawme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French baume, from Old French basme, from Latin balsamum, itself from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon). Spelling modified 16th c. to conform to Latin etymology. Doublet of balsam an… The correct English form is balm, spelled B-A-L-M.
Definition
- 1Any of various aromatic resins exuded from certain plants, especially trees of the genus Commiphora of Africa, Arabia and India and Myroxylon of South America.
- 2An aromatic preparation for embalming the dead.
- 3A plant or tree yielding such substance.
- 4Any soothing oil or lotion, especially an aromatic one.
- 5Something soothing.
- 6The lemon balm, Melissa officinalis.
- 7Any of a number of other aromatic herbs with a similar citrus-like scent, such as bee balm and horsebalm.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English bawme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French baume, from Old French basme, from Latin balsamum, itself from Ancient Greek βάλσαμον (bálsamon). Spelling modified 16th c. to conform to Latin etymology. Doublet of balsam and desman.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ablm,ballm,balmm,baml,bbalm,blam
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of balm - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “balm”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-L-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɑːm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “BL” - see the side-by-side comparison. balm vs BL
- 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.