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cable

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "cable", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "cable" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "cable" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

cable is aEnglishnoun. It means: A long object used to make a physical connection. Pronounced /ˈkeɪ.bəl/. It ranks #2,776 in English word frequency. Often confused with cal and CBE.

Key facts for cable
PropertyValue
Headwordcable
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkeɪ.bəl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,776
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of cable in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for cable is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkeɪ.bəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,776 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for cable, with forms such as "acble", "cabble", and "cabel". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cal", "CBE", "care", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mid-19th cen… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is cable, spelled C-A-B-L-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A long object used to make a physical connection.
  2. 2
    A long object used to make a physical connection.
  3. 3
    A long object used to make a physical connection.
  4. 4
    A long object used to make a physical connection.
  5. 5
    A system for transmitting television or Internet services over a network of coaxial or fibreoptic cables.
  6. 6
    A system for transmitting television or Internet services over a network of coaxial or fibreoptic cables.
  7. 7
    A telegram, notably when sent by (submarine) telegraph cable.
  8. 8
    A unit of length equal to one tenth of a nautical mile.
  9. 9
    100 fathoms, 600 imperial feet, approximately 185 m.
  10. 10
    The currency pair British Pound against United States Dollar.
  11. 11
    A moulding, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope.
  12. 12
    A textural pattern achieved by passing groups of stitches over one another.

Etymology

Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: acble,cabble,cabel,cablle,calbe,cbale,ccable,cible

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for cable

Misspelling Variants of "cable"

acble5cabble6cabel5cablle6calbe5cbale5ccable6cible5
Misspelling Variants of "cable"

Frequency rank: #2,776 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cable"?
"cable" is spelled C-A-B-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkeɪ.bəl/.
What does "cable" mean?
As a noun, "cable" means: A long object used to make a physical connection.
What words are commonly confused with "cable"?
"cable" is commonly confused with "cal", "CBE", "care". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cable"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cable" is /ˈkeɪ.bəl/. 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 "cable"?
Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mi... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.