distil
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "distil", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "distil" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "distil" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
distil is aEnglishverb. It means: To exude (a liquid) in small drops; also, to give off (a vapour) which condenses in small drops. Pronounced /dɪˈstɪl/.
Compare similar words
See how distil compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | distil |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈstɪl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #90,371 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for distil is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈstɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #90,371 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for distil in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *de From Late Middle English distillen (“to fall, flow, or shed in drops, drop, trickle; to shed drops; to fill (the eyes) with tears; (alchemy, medicine) to subject (something) to distillation; to obtain (something) using distillation; to distil;… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is distil, spelled D-I-S-T-I-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To exude (a liquid) in small drops; also, to give off (a vapour) which condenses in small drops.
- 2To impart (information, etc.) in small quantities; to infuse.
- 3To heat (a substance, usually a liquid) so that a vapour is produced, and then to cool the vapour so that it condenses back into a liquid, either to purify the original substance or to obtain one of its components; to subject to distillation.
- 4Followed by off or out: to expel (a volatile substance) from something by distillation.
- 5To extract the essence of (something) by, or as if by, distillation; to concentrate, to purify.
- 6To transform a thing (into something else) by distillation.
- 7To make (something, especially spirits such as gin and whisky) by distillation.
- 8To transform a complex large language model into a smaller one.
- 9To dissolve or melt (something).
- 10To fall or trickle down in small drops; to exude, to ooze out; also, to come out as a vapour which condenses in small drops.
- 11To flow or pass gently or slowly; hence (figuratively) to be manifested gently or gradually.
- 12To drip or be wet with some liquid.
- 13To turn into a vapour and then condense back into a liquid; to undergo or be produced by distillation.
Etymology
PIE word *de From Late Middle English distillen (“to fall, flow, or shed in drops, drop, trickle; to shed drops; to fill (the eyes) with tears; (alchemy, medicine) to subject (something) to distillation; to obtain (something) using distillation; to distil; to condense or vaporize; (figuratively) to give (good fortune) to; to say (slanderous words)”) [and other forms], from Old French distiller (modern French distiller (“to distil”)), and from its etymon Latin distīllāre, a variant of Latin dēstīllāre, the present active infinitive of dēstīllō (“to drip or trickle down; to distil”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘down, down from, down to’) + stīllō (“to drip, drop, trickle; to distil”) (from stīlla (“drop of liquid; (figuratively) small quantity”), probably a diminutive of stīria (“ice drop; icicle”)). Cognates * French distiller (“to distil”) * Italian distillare (“to distil”) * Occitan distillar * Portuguese destilar (“to distil; to drip”) * Spanish destilar (“to distil; to exude; to filter”)
This word in other languages
Frequency rank: #90,371 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "distil"?
What does "distil" mean?
How do you pronounce "distil"?
What is the origin of the word "distil"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index: