crayon

/ˈkɹeɪ.ɒn/

//ˈkɹeɪ.ɒn// noun

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

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

The verdict

“crayon” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #27,103. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#27,103
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A stick of colored chalk or wax used for drawing.

Corpus desk

Index EN-crayon · crayon · English

crayon · rank #27,103 · 9 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #27,103
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Cowell

Nearest frequency peer: Cowell (-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 “crayon”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “crayon” 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).

crayon vs Croydon
57% similar
crayon vs cray
67% similar
crayon vs canon
67% similar

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

Key facts for crayon
PropertyValue
Headwordcrayon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɹeɪ.ɒn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#27,103
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “crayon”

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).crayonlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Cowell” (#27,102), “cremated” (#27,104), “CRM” (#27,105). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “crayon” is #27,103. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around crayon (IPA /ˈkɹeɪ.ɒn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #27,103 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for crayon, with forms such as "caryon", "ccrayon", and "craoyn". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "Croydon", "cray", "canon", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French crayon (“pencil”), from craie (“chalk”) + -on (“(diminutive)”), from Latin creta (“chalk, clay”), from crētus. The correct English form is crayon, spelled C-R-A-Y-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A stick of colored chalk or wax used for drawing.
  2. 2
    A colored pencil, a colouring pencil
  3. 3
    A crayon drawing, or a drawing with colored lines.
  4. 4
    A pencil of carbon used in producing electric light.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Let no day pass over you […] without giving some strokes of the pencil or the crayon.
  2. But on the wall hung two fine crayons, representing Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette — pictures which she recognized as having hung in the corridor of the Tuileries — and in front of them were burning two candles on a species of rude altar.

Etymology

Borrowed from French crayon (“pencil”), from craie (“chalk”) + -on (“(diminutive)”), from Latin creta (“chalk, clay”), from crētus.

This word in other languages

creyón(Español)pastel(Français)Wachsmalstift(Deutsch)pastel(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • caryon
  • ccrayon
  • craoyn
  • crayno
  • crayonn
  • crayyon
  • crrayon
  • cryaon
  • rcayon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

caryon2ccrayon1craoyn2crayno2crayonn1crayyon1crrayon1cryaon2
Edit distance from "crayon"

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 "crayon"?
"crayon" is spelled C-R-A-Y-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɹeɪ.ɒn/.
What does "crayon" mean?
As a noun, "crayon" means: A stick of colored chalk or wax used for drawing.
What words are commonly confused with "crayon"?
"crayon" is commonly confused with "Croydon", "cray", "canon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "crayon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crayon" is /ˈkɹeɪ.ɒn/. 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 "crayon"?
Borrowed from French crayon (“pencil”), from craie (“chalk”) + -on (“(diminutive)”), from Latin creta (“chalk, clay”), from crētus. 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 "crayon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Cowell#27,102deluge#27,119desist#27,120Devlin#27,121

Similar misspelling depth

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

calmer9 variantsdoable9 variantsbribed9 variantsbistro9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list