barrel
/ˈbæɹ(ə)l/
"barrel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“barrel” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,391. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,391
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied...
Corpus desk
Index EN-barrel · barrel · English
barrel · rank #5,391 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,391
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH aviation
Nearest frequency peer: aviation (-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 “barrel”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- artistic
artistic
94,613 corpus weight
- attendance
attendance
94,612 corpus weight
- aviation
aviation
94,611 corpus weight
- barrel
barrel
94,610 corpus weight
- beds
beds
94,609 corpus weight
- beloved
beloved
94,608 corpus weight
What this shows “barrel” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | barrel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbæɹ(ə)l/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #5,391 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “barrel”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around barrel (IPA /ˈbæɹ(ə)l/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,391 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 16 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for barrel, with forms such as "abrrel", "barel", and "barerl". 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, "Barry", "Basel", "barren", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English barel, from Anglo-Norman baril, Old French baril, bareil (“barrel”), of uncertain origin. An attempt to link baril to Old French barre (“bar, bolt”) (compare Medieval Latin barra (“bar, rod”)) via assumed Vulgar Latin *barrīculum meets t… The correct English form is barrel, spelled B-A-R-R-E-L.
Definition
- 1A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
- 2A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
- 3The quantity which constitutes a full barrel: the volume or weight this represents varies by local law and custom.
- 4A solid drum, or a hollow cylinder or case
- 5A metallic tube, as of a gun, from which a projectile is discharged.
- 6A venturi (in carburetion).
- 7A ceiling-mounted tube from which lights are suspended.
- 8Any tube.
- 9The hollow basal part of a feather.
- 10The part of a clarinet which connects the mouthpiece and upper joint, and resembles a barrel.
- 11A wave that breaks with a hollow compartment.
- 12A waste receptacle.
- 13The ribs and belly of a horse or pony.
- 14A jar.
- 15Any of the dark-staining regions in the somatosensory cortex of rodents, etc., where somatosensory inputs from the contralateral side of the body come in from the thalamus.
- 16A statistic derived from launch angle and exit velocity of a ball hit in play.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how barrel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonym: cask
a cracker barrel
Etymology
From Middle English barel, from Anglo-Norman baril, Old French baril, bareil (“barrel”), of uncertain origin. An attempt to link baril to Old French barre (“bar, bolt”) (compare Medieval Latin barra (“bar, rod”)) via assumed Vulgar Latin *barrīculum meets the phonological requirement, but fails to connect the word semantically. The alternative connection to Frankish *baril, *beril or Gothic *𐌱𐌴𐍂𐌹𐌻𐍃 (*bērils, “container for transport”), from Proto-Germanic *barilaz, *bērilaz (“barrel, jug, container”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, transport”), is more plausible as it connects not only the form of the word but also the sense; equivalent to bear + -le. Compare also Old High German biril (“jug, large pot”), Luxembourgish Bärel, Bierel (“jug, pot”), Old Norse berill (“barrel for liquids”), Old English byrla (“barrel of a horse, trunk, body”). More at bear.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- abrrel
- barel
- barerl
- barrell
- barrle
- bbarrel
- brarel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of barrel - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "barrel", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).