bay leaf
/ˈbeɪ liːf/
"bay-leaf" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bay leaf” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A herb derived from any of certain shrubs of the family Lauraceae and Myrtaceae, especially the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bay leaf |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbeɪ liːf/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bay leaf” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
bay leaf is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbeɪ liːf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A herb derived from any of certain shrubs of the family Lauraceae and Myrtaceae, especially the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis).".
Zero misspellings are on record for bay leaf in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is bay leaf, spelled B-A-Y- -L-E-A-F.
Definition
- 1A herb derived from any of certain shrubs of the family Lauraceae and Myrtaceae, especially the bay laurel (Laurus nobilis).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “bay leaf”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-Y- -L-E-A-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbeɪ liːf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.