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call

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

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Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "call", 4-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 "call" 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 "call" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

call is aEnglishverb. It means: To reach out with one's voice. Pronounced /kɔːl/. It ranks #287 in English word frequency. Often confused with Cl and can.

Key facts for call
PropertyValue
Headwordcall
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/kɔːl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#287
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for call is 4 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kɔːl/. Corpus data places it at rank #287 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 32 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 3 documented wrong-spelling variants for call, with forms such as "acll", "ccall", and "clal". 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, "Cl", "can", "car", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English callen, from Old English ċeallian (“to call, shout”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call; shout; refer to as; name”); both from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- (“voice, cry”), from *gel(H)- (“to v… 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 call, spelled C-A-L-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To reach out with one's voice.
  2. 2
    To reach out with one's voice.
  3. 3
    To reach out with one's voice.
  4. 4
    To reach out with one's voice.
  5. 5
    To reach out with one's voice.
  6. 6
    To reach out with one's voice.
  7. 7
    To reach out with one's voice.
  8. 8
    To visit.
  9. 9
    To visit.
  10. 10
    To visit.
  11. 11
    To name, identify, or describe.
  12. 12
    To name, identify, or describe.
  13. 13
    To name, identify, or describe.
  14. 14
    To name, identify, or describe.
  15. 15
    To name, identify, or describe.
  16. 16
    To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
  17. 17
    To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
  18. 18
    To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
  19. 19
    To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
  20. 20
    To declare, or declare in favor of, a predicted or actual result.
  21. 21
    Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  22. 22
    Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  23. 23
    Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  24. 24
    Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  25. 25
    Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  26. 26
    Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  27. 27
    To require, demand.
  28. 28
    To cause to be verbally subjected to.
  29. 29
    To lay claim to an object or role which is up for grabs.
  30. 30
    To announce the early extinction of a debt by prepayment, usually at a premium.
  31. 31
    To demand repayment of a loan.
  32. 32
    To jump to (another part of a program); to perform some operation, returning to the original point on completion.

Etymology

From Middle English callen, from Old English ċeallian (“to call, shout”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call; shout; refer to as; name”); both from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- (“voice, cry”), from *gel(H)- (“to vocalize, call, shout”). Cognates * Scots call, caw, ca (“to call, cry, shout”) * Dutch kallen (“to chat, talk”) * German Low German kallen (“to speak, talk”) * German kallen (“to call”) * Swedish kalla (“to call, refer to, beckon”) * Norwegian kalle (“to call, name”) * Danish kalde (“to call, name”) * Icelandic kalla (“to call, shout, name”) * Welsh galw (“to call, demand”) * Polish głos (“voice”) * Lithuanian gal̃sas (“echo”) * Russian голос (golos, “voice”) * Albanian gjuhë (“language, tongue”).

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: acll,ccall,clal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for call

Misspelling Variants of "call"

acll4ccall5clal4
Misspelling Variants of "call"

Frequency rank: #287 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "call"?
"call" is spelled C-A-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /kɔːl/.
What does "call" mean?
As a verb, "call" means: To reach out with one's voice.
What words are commonly confused with "call"?
"call" is commonly confused with "Cl", "can", "car". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "call"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "call" is /kɔːl/. 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 "call"?
From Middle English callen, from Old English ċeallian (“to call, shout”) and Old Norse kalla (“to call; shout; refer to as; name”); both from Proto-Germanic *kalzōną (“to call, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- (“voice, cry”), from *gel(... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
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:

All "C" wordsABCDEFGHIJKL

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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.