channel

/ˈt͡ʃænəl/

//ˈt͡ʃænəl// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"channel" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“channel” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,478. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,478
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water.

Corpus desk

Index EN-channel · channel · English

channel · rank #1,478 · 8 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,478
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH broke

Nearest frequency peer: broke (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “channel”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “channel” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

channel vs chapel
71% similar
channel vs Chantal
57% similar
channel vs channels
88% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for channel
PropertyValue
Headwordchannel
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈt͡ʃænəl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,478
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “channel”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).channellands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “broke” (#1,477), “distance” (#1,479), “attempt” (#1,476). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “channel” is #1,478. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around channel (IPA /ˈt͡ʃænəl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,478 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 22 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for channel, with forms such as "cahnnel", "cchannel", and "chanenl". 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 17 confusable-pair relationships, "chapel", "Chantal", "channels", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English chanel (also as canel, cannel, kanel), a borrowing from Old French chanel, canel, from Latin canālis (“groove; canal; channel”). Doublet of canal. The correct English form is channel, spelled C-H-A-N-N-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water.
  2. 2
    The natural or man-made deeper course through a reef, bar, bay, or any shallow body of water.
  3. 3
    The navigable part of a river.
  4. 4
    A narrow body of water between two land masses.
  5. 5
    Something through which another thing passes; a means of conveying or transmitting.
  6. 6
    An ion channel: pore-forming proteins located in a cell membrane that allow specific ions to pass through.
  7. 7
    A gutter; a groove, as in a fluted column.
  8. 8
    A structural member with a cross section shaped like a squared-off letter C.
  9. 9
    A connection between initiating and terminating nodes of a circuit.
  10. 10
    The narrow conducting portion of a MOSFET transistor.
  11. 11
    The part that connects a data source to a data sink.
  12. 12
    A path for conveying electrical or electromagnetic signals, usually distinguished from other parallel paths.
  13. 13
    A single path provided by a transmission medium via physical separation, such as by multipair cable.
  14. 14
    A single path provided by a transmission medium via spectral or protocol separation, such as by frequency or time-division multiplexing.
  15. 15
    A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies, usually in conjunction with a predetermined letter, number, or codeword, and allocated by international agreement.
  16. 16
    A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies used for transmitting television.
  17. 17
    The portion of a storage medium, such as a track or a band, that is accessible to a given reading or writing station or head.
  18. 18
    The part of a turbine pump where the pressure is built up.
  19. 19
    A distribution channel.
  20. 20
    A particular area for conversations on an IRC or similar network, analogous to a chat room and often dedicated to a specific topic.
  21. 21
    A means of delivering up-to-date Internet content via a push mechanism.
  22. 22
    A psychic or medium who temporarily takes on the personality of somebody else.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how channel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The water coming out of the waterwheel created a standing wave in the channel.
  2. A channel was dredged to allow ocean-going vessels to reach the city.

Etymology

From Middle English chanel (also as canel, cannel, kanel), a borrowing from Old French chanel, canel, from Latin canālis (“groove; canal; channel”). Doublet of canal.

Synonyms

passagesoundstraitsidestationgroovegutterC-channel

This word in other languages

canal(Español)chaîne(Français)Kanal(Deutsch)canal(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cahnnel
  • cchannel
  • chanenl
  • channell
  • channle
  • chhannel
  • chnanel
  • hcannel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of channel - 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.

cahnnel2cchannel1chanenl2channell1channle2chhannel1chnanel2hcannel2
Edit distance from "channel"

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 "channel"?
"channel" is spelled C-H-A-N-N-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈt͡ʃænəl/.
What does "channel" mean?
As a noun, "channel" means: The hollow bed of running waters; (also) the bed of the sea or other body of water.
What words are commonly confused with "channel"?
"channel" is commonly confused with "chapel", "Chantal", "channels". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "channel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "channel" is /ˈt͡ʃænəl/. 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 "channel"?
From Middle English chanel (also as canel, cannel, kanel), a borrowing from Old French chanel, canel, from Latin canālis (“groove; canal; channel”). Doublet of canal. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "channel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

attempt#1,476finding#1,484walking#1,472learned#1,486

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

eating8 variantsactual8 variantsstars8 variantssitting8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list