barley

/ˈbɑɹli/

//ˈbɑɹli// noun

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

"barley" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“barley” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,106. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,106
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cereal of the species Hordeum vulgare, or its grains, often used as food or to make beer and other malted drinks.

Corpus desk

Index EN-barley · barley · English

barley · rank #15,106 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,106
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH axle

Nearest frequency peer: axle (-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 “barley”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “barley” 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).

barley vs Barry
50% similar
barley vs barre
67% similar
barley vs burly
67% similar

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

Key facts for barley
PropertyValue
Headwordbarley
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɑɹli/
Letters6
Frequency rank#15,106
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “barley”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).barleylands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “axle” (#15,105), “bd” (#15,107), “Ava” (#15,104). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “barley” is #15,106. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around barley (IPA /ˈbɑɹli/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,106 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for barley, with forms such as "abrley", "balrey", and "barleyy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Barry", "barre", "burly", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English barly, barli, from Old English bærlīċ (“barley-like”, adjective) (later referring to barley itself and grain crops of similar appearance), from bere (“barley”) (compare Scots bere (“six-rowed barley”)), from Proto-Germanic *baraz (compar… The correct English form is barley, spelled B-A-R-L-E-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A cereal of the species Hordeum vulgare, or its grains, often used as food or to make beer and other malted drinks.
  2. 2
    The seed of Job's tears. (Coix lacryma-jobi)

Etymology

From Middle English barly, barli, from Old English bærlīċ (“barley-like”, adjective) (later referring to barley itself and grain crops of similar appearance), from bere (“barley”) (compare Scots bere (“six-rowed barley”)), from Proto-Germanic *baraz (compare Old Norse barr), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰers- (“spike, prickle”). Equivalent to bere + -ly. See English brew.

This word in other languages

cebada(Español)orge(Français)Gerste(Deutsch)cevada(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abrley
  • balrey
  • barleyy
  • barlley
  • barlye
  • barrley
  • bbarley
  • braley

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of barley - 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.

abrley2balrey2barleyy1barlley1barlye2barrley1bbarley1braley2
Edit distance from "barley"

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 "barley"?
"barley" is spelled B-A-R-L-E-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɑɹli/.
What does "barley" mean?
As a noun, "barley" means: A cereal of the species Hordeum vulgare, or its grains, often used as food or to make beer and other malted drinks.
What words are commonly confused with "barley"?
"barley" is commonly confused with "Barry", "barre", "burly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "barley"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "barley" is /ˈbɑɹli/. 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 "barley"?
From Middle English barly, barli, from Old English bærlīċ (“barley-like”, adjective) (later referring to barley itself and grain crops of similar appearance), from bere (“barley”) (compare Scots bere (“six-rowed barley”)), from Proto-Germanic *bar... 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 "barley", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bitten#15,109attire#15,100braces#15,114bumped#15,117

Similar misspelling depth

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

Chanel8 variantscheque8 variantscling8 variantsdiaper8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list