beagle
/ˈbiːɡəl/
"beagle" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“beagle” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #26,693 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #26,693
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small short-legged smooth-coated scenthound, often tricolored and sometimes used for hunting hares. Its friendly disposition makes it suitable as a family pet.
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 | beagle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbiːɡəl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #26,693 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “beagle” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for beagle is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbiːɡəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #26,693 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for beagle, with forms such as "baegle", "bbeagle", and "beagel". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "beal", "belle", "beige", 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 *begel (attested in the plural begles), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Middle French beegueule (“one who keeps their mouth open”), whence modern French bégueule (“a colloquial insult said to women of low status and accused … The correct English form is beagle, spelled B-E-A-G-L-E.
Definition
- 1A small short-legged smooth-coated scenthound, often tricolored and sometimes used for hunting hares. Its friendly disposition makes it suitable as a family pet.
- 2A person who snoops on others; a detective.
- 3A bailiff.
- 4A small kind of shark.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English *begel (attested in the plural begles), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Middle French beegueule (“one who keeps their mouth open”), whence modern French bégueule (“a colloquial insult said to women of low status and accused of stupidity, who always have their mouths gaped or open; a prude”); from Old French beer, bayer (“to gape, gawk”) + Old French gueule (“gullet”). The modern French bigle (“beagle”) however is a borrowing from the English. Alternatively, a modification of Middle English bedel (“beadle”) in the sense of "constable, detective". The change of /t/, /d/ to /k/, /ɡ/ before /l/ is common; compare hurkle, variant of hurtelen (“to hurtle”), and in Modern English, huckleberry, turkle (“turtle”), and stickle.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: baegle,bbeagle,beagel,beaggle,beaglle,bealge,begale,ebagle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of beagle - 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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Using “beagle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-A-G-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbiːɡəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “beal” - see the side-by-side comparison. beagle vs beal
- 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.