candle
/ˈkændl̩/
"candle" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“candle” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,520 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,520
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.
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 | candle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkændl̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #8,520 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “candle” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for candle is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkændl̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,520 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for candle, with forms such as "acndle", "cadnle", and "canddle". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cane", "candy", "canoe", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English candel, from Old English candel (“candle”), borrowed from Latin candēla (“candle”), from Latin candeō (“be white, bright, shining”, verb); see candid. Doublet of candela and chandelle. The correct English form is candle, spelled C-A-N-D-L-E.
Definition
- 1A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin.
- 2The protruding, removable portion of a filter, particularly a water filter.
- 3A unit of luminous intensity, now replaced by the SI unit candela.
- 4A fast-growing, light-colored, upward-growing shoot on a pine tree in the spring. As growth slows in summer, the shoot darkens and is no longer conspicuous.
- 5Indicates how high or low church something is by height on the candle.
Etymology
From Middle English candel, from Old English candel (“candle”), borrowed from Latin candēla (“candle”), from Latin candeō (“be white, bright, shining”, verb); see candid. Doublet of candela and chandelle.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acndle,cadnle,canddle,candel,candlle,canlde,canndle,ccandle,cnadle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of candle - 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 “candle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-N-D-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkændl̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cane” - see the side-by-side comparison. candle vs cane
- 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.