chattel
/ˈt͡ʃæt.l̩/
"chattel" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chattel” is uncommon English (frequency #52,214 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #52,214
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Tangible, movable property.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chattel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈt͡ʃæt.l̩/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #52,214 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “chattel” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
chattel is uncommon English at frequency #52,214 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈt͡ʃæt.l̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for chattel, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English chatel, from Old French chatel, from Medieval Latin capitāle (English capital), from Latin capitālis (“of the head”), from caput (“head”) + -alis (“-al”). Compare the doublet cattle (“cows”), which is from an Anglo-Norman variant. Compar… The correct English form is chattel, spelled C-H-A-T-T-E-L.
Definition
- 1Tangible, movable property.
- 2A slave.
Etymology
From Middle English chatel, from Old French chatel, from Medieval Latin capitāle (English capital), from Latin capitālis (“of the head”), from caput (“head”) + -alis (“-al”). Compare the doublet cattle (“cows”), which is from an Anglo-Norman variant. Compare also capital and kith and kine (“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”.
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); 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
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Using “chattel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-A-T-T-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈt͡ʃæt.l̩/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.