chapel

/ˈt͡ʃæp.əl/

//ˈt͡ʃæp.əl// noun

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

"chapel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“chapel” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,771. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,771
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church.

Corpus desk

Index EN-chapel · chapel · English

chapel · rank #6,771 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,771
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH championships

Nearest frequency peer: championships (-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 “chapel”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “chapel” 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).

chapel vs chase
67% similar
chapel vs chaps
67% similar
chapel vs chased
67% similar

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

Key facts for chapel
PropertyValue
Headwordchapel
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈt͡ʃæp.əl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#6,771
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “chapel”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).chapellands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “championships” (#6,770), “cloth” (#6,772), “cease” (#6,769). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “chapel” is #6,771. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around chapel (IPA /ˈt͡ʃæp.əl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,771 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for chapel, with forms such as "cahpel", "cchapel", and "chaepl". 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, "chase", "chaps", "chased", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English chapele, chapel, from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella (“little cloak; chapel”), diminutive of cappa (“cloak, cape”). Doublet of capelle. (printing office): Said to be because printing was first carried on in England in a cha… The correct English form is chapel, spelled C-H-A-P-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church.
  2. 2
    A place of worship in another building or within a civil institution such as a larger church, airport, prison, monastery, school, etc.; often primarily for private prayer.
  3. 3
    A place of worship of a denomination not in conformity with the Church of England, usually Protestant; for example, of Nonconformist or Dissenter congregations.
  4. 4
    A funeral home, or a room in one for holding funeral services.
  5. 5
    A trade union branch in printing or journalism.
  6. 6
    A printing office.
  7. 7
    A choir of singers, or an orchestra, attached to the court of a prince or nobleman.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”

Etymology

From Middle English chapele, chapel, from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella (“little cloak; chapel”), diminutive of cappa (“cloak, cape”). Doublet of capelle. (printing office): Said to be because printing was first carried on in England in a chapel near Westminster Abbey.

This word in other languages

capilla(Español)chapelle(Français)Kapelle(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cahpel
  • cchapel
  • chaepl
  • chapell
  • chaple
  • chappel
  • chhapel
  • chpael
  • hcapel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of chapel - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

cahpel2cchapel1chaepl2chapell1chaple2chappel1chhapel1chpael2
Edit distance from "chapel"

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 "chapel"?
"chapel" is spelled C-H-A-P-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈt͡ʃæp.əl/.
What does "chapel" mean?
As a noun, "chapel" means: A place of worship, smaller than or subordinate to a church.
What words are commonly confused with "chapel"?
"chapel" is commonly confused with "chase", "chaps", "chased". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "chapel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chapel" is /ˈt͡ʃæp.əl/. 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 "chapel"?
From Middle English chapele, chapel, from Old French chapele, from Late Latin cappella (“little cloak; chapel”), diminutive of cappa (“cloak, cape”). Doublet of capelle. (printing office): Said to be because printing was first carried on in Englan... 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 "chapel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

differ#6,779Arctic#6,761Arabic#6,760flames#6,787

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

essence9 variantsyelling9 variantsHarold9 variantstrades9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list