caravel
/ˈkæɹəvɛl/
"caravel" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“caravel” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A light, usually lateen-rigged sailing ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for about 300 years from the 15th century, first for trade and later for voyages of exploration.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | caravel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæɹəvɛl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “caravel” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
caravel is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkæɹəvɛl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A light, usually lateen-rigged sailing ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for about 300 years from the 15th century, first for trade and later for voyages of exploration.".
caravel has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French caravelle, from Old French caruelle, carvelle (“caravel”), from Old Galician-Portuguese caravela (“caravel”), a diminutive of caravo, carabo (“type of small vessel”), from Late Latin carabus (“small wicker boat decked with hide”), from An… The correct English form is caravel, spelled C-A-R-A-V-E-L.
Definition
- 1A light, usually lateen-rigged sailing ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish for about 300 years from the 15th century, first for trade and later for voyages of exploration.
Etymology
From Middle French caravelle, from Old French caruelle, carvelle (“caravel”), from Old Galician-Portuguese caravela (“caravel”), a diminutive of caravo, carabo (“type of small vessel”), from Late Latin carabus (“small wicker boat decked with hide”), from Ancient Greek κᾱ́ρᾰβος (kā́răbos, “type of light ship; kind of beetle, probably a longhorn beetle; kind of crustacean, probably a crayfish”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “caravel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-R-A-V-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkæɹəvɛl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.