English Word Reference Free

camomile

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

Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "camomile", 8-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 "camomile" 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 "camomile" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

camomile is aEnglishnoun. It means: A composite plant with a fragrance reminiscent of apples: Pronounced /ˈkæ.məˌmaɪl/.

Compare similar words

See how camomile compares against similar English words.

Browse all word comparisons →
Key facts for camomile
PropertyValue
Headwordcamomile
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkæ.məˌmaɪl/
Letters8
Frequency rank#90,251
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for camomile is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkæ.məˌmaɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #90,251 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.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for camomile in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English camamille, first attested 1265, from Old French camomille, from Late Latin camomilla, from Latin chamaemelon, from Ancient Greek χαμαίμηλον (khamaímēlon, literally “earth-apple”), from χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “app… 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 camomile, spelled C-A-M-O-M-I-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 composite plant with a fragrance reminiscent of apples:
  2. 2
    A composite plant with a fragrance reminiscent of apples:
  3. 3
    Any of several other similar plants. (See below)
  4. 4
    Ellipsis of camomile tea.

Etymology

From Middle English camamille, first attested 1265, from Old French camomille, from Late Latin camomilla, from Latin chamaemelon, from Ancient Greek χαμαίμηλον (khamaímēlon, literally “earth-apple”), from χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”). So called because of the apple-like scent of the plant.

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #90,251 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "camomile"?
"camomile" is spelled C-A-M-O-M-I-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkæ.məˌmaɪl/.
What does "camomile" mean?
As a noun, "camomile" means: A composite plant with a fragrance reminiscent of apples:
How do you pronounce "camomile"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "camomile" is /ˈkæ.məˌmaɪl/. 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 "camomile"?
From Middle English camamille, first attested 1265, from Old French camomille, from Late Latin camomilla, from Latin chamaemelon, from Ancient Greek χαμαίμηλον (khamaímēlon, literally “earth-apple”), from χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”) + μῆλον (m... 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:

Explore PlainSpell

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