cello
/ˈtʃɛləʊ/
"cello" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cello” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,779 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #19,779
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow.
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 | cello |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtʃɛləʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #19,779 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cello” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cello is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtʃɛləʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,779 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for cello, with forms such as "ccello", "celo", and "celol". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CEO", "Clo", "colo", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of violoncello, the original name, from Italian violoncello (“little violone”), from violone (“an early form of the double bass”) + -cello (“-elle”, forming diminutives), violone (“big viola”) itself being derived from viola + -one (“-oon”, forming… The correct English form is cello, spelled C-E-L-L-O.
Definition
- 1A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow.
Etymology
Clipping of violoncello, the original name, from Italian violoncello (“little violone”), from violone (“an early form of the double bass”) + -cello (“-elle”, forming diminutives), violone (“big viola”) itself being derived from viola + -one (“-oon”, forming augmentatives).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccello,celo,celol,clelo,ecllo
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cello - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
How do you spell "cello"?
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Using “cello”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-E-L-L-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtʃɛləʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “CEO” - see the side-by-side comparison. cello vs CEO
- 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.