bollard
/ˈbɒləɹd/
"bollard" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bollard” is uncommon English (frequency #73,010 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #73,010
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A strong vertical post of timber or iron, fixed to the ground and/or on the deck of a ship, to which the ship's mooring lines etc are secured.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bollard · bollard · English
bollard · rank #73,010 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #73,010
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH booyah
Nearest frequency peer: booyah (+2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “bollard”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Blyton
Blyton
26,996 corpus weight
- boatswain
boatswain
26,995 corpus weight
- Bodrum
Bodrum
26,994 corpus weight
- bollard
bollard
26,991 corpus weight
- booyah
booyah
26,989 corpus weight
- Brenden
Brenden
26,986 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “bollard” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bollard |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɒləɹd/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #73,010 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bollard” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bollard is uncommon English at frequency #73,010 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɒləɹd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for bollard in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bollard, probably from Middle English bole (“tree trunk”), from Old Norse bolr (“stump, trunk”), equivalent to bole + -ard (pejorative or diminutive suffix). The correct English form is bollard, spelled B-O-L-L-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1A strong vertical post of timber or iron, fixed to the ground and/or on the deck of a ship, to which the ship's mooring lines etc are secured.
- 2A similar post preventing vehicle access to a pedestrian area, to delineate traffic lanes, or used for security purposes.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bollard appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Today he had for bollard the unfinished monument half-erected to some all but forgotten anarchist.
He sat on a bollard, looking out across the water, a man more small and shabby than expected.
Etymology
From Middle English bollard, probably from Middle English bole (“tree trunk”), from Old Norse bolr (“stump, trunk”), equivalent to bole + -ard (pejorative or diminutive suffix).
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); 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 "bollard", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).