Skip to main content
PlainSpell

cell

/sɛl/noun, verb

cell is spelled C-E-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 74 times per million words in written English, the 1,427th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “cel vs cell” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, cell means “A single-room dwelling for a hermit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cell is cells.

How many letters and syllables are in cell?

Letters4: C-E-L-L
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing74 times per million words; the 1,427th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is cell?

Cell appears 74 times per million words in written English, the 1,427th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cell?

  • /sɛl/

Cell has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cell.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cell.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with cell

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

cel vs cell10 B
cell vs sell0 B

Sounds like: cel, sell (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of cell

  • cells plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • celling participle, present
  • celled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cell mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A single-room dwelling for a hermit.

  2. 2

    A small monastery or nunnery dependent on a larger religious establishment.

  3. 3

    A small room in a monastery or nunnery accommodating one person.

    Gregor Mendel must have spent a good amount of time outside of his cell.

  4. 4

    A room in a prison or jail for one or more inmates.

    The combatants spent the night in separate cells.

  5. 5

    Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb.

  6. 6

    Any of various chambers in a tissue or organism having specific functions.

  7. 7

    The discal cell of the wing of a lepidopteran insect.

  8. 8

    obsoleteSpecifically, any of the supposed compartments of the brain, formerly thought to be the source of specific mental capacities, knowledge, or memories.

  9. 9

    AustraliaIndiaUSinformalA cellular phone.

verb

  1. 1

    To place or enclose in a cell.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cell in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpile (component of an electrical battery), cellule (room in a prison for containing inmates), cellule (of a honeycomb) (biological cavity), portable, mobile (informal: a cellular telephone – see also…)
GermanZelle, Batteriezelle (component of an electrical battery), Haftraum (room in a prison for containing inmates), Handy (informal: a cellular telephone – see also…), Mönchszelle (room in a monastery for sleeping one person)
Portuguesecélula (component of an electrical battery), cela (room in a prison for containing inmates), (telefone) celular (informal: a cellular telephone – see also…)
Spanishcelda (component of an electrical battery), bartolina, estancia, calabozo (room in a prison for containing inmates), teléfono móvil, móvil (informal: a cellular telephone – see also…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cell come from?

From Middle English celle, selle, from Old English cell (attested in inflected forms), from Latin cella (“chamber, small room, compartment”), later reinforced by Old French cel, sele, Old French cele. Ultimately from Proto-Italic *kelnā, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelneh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of cella and hall.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cell