doily

/ˈdɔɪli/

//ˈdɔɪli// noun

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

"doily" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“doily” is uncommon English (frequency #83,194 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#83,194
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small ornamental piece of lace or linen or paper used to protect a surface from scratches by hard objects such as vases or bowls; or to decorate a plate of food.

Corpus desk

Index EN-doily · doily · English

doily · rank #83,194 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #83,194
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH dogmatism

Nearest frequency peer: dogmatism (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “doily”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “doily” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for doily
PropertyValue
Headworddoily
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdɔɪli/
Letters5
Frequency rank#83,194
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “doily” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).doilyfalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “dogmatism” (#83,193), “doff” (#83,192), “dither” (#83,191). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “doily” is #83,194. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

doily is uncommon English at frequency #83,194 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdɔɪli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for doily in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Doiley, the name of a 17th-century London draper. The surname is Anglo-Norman, from d'Œuilly, name of several places in Calvados, from Old French oeil (“eye”). The correct English form is doily, spelled D-O-I-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A small ornamental piece of lace or linen or paper used to protect a surface from scratches by hard objects such as vases or bowls; or to decorate a plate of food.
  2. 2
    A similar circular piece of lace worn as a head-covering by some married Jewish women.
  3. 3
    An old kind of woollen material.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She looked polite, and observed the oiled floors, hard-wood staircase, unused fireplace with tiles which resembled brown linoleum, cut-glass vases standing upon doilies, and the barred, shut, forbidding unit bookcases that were half filled with swashbuckler novels and unread-looking sets of Dickens, Kipling, O. Henry, and Elbert Hubbard.
  2. Beg pardon, I'm soiling the doileys / With afternoon tea-cakes and scones.

Etymology

From Doiley, the name of a 17th-century London draper. The surname is Anglo-Norman, from d'Œuilly, name of several places in Calvados, from Old French oeil (“eye”).

This word in other languages

tapete(Español)napperon(Français)Deckchen(Deutsch)

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 "doily"?
"doily" is spelled D-O-I-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɔɪli/.
What does "doily" mean?
As a noun, "doily" means: A small ornamental piece of lace or linen or paper used to protect a surface from scratches by hard objects such as vases or bowls; or to decorate a plate of food.
How do you pronounce "doily"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "doily" is /ˈdɔɪli/. 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 "doily"?
From Doiley, the name of a 17th-century London draper. The surname is Anglo-Norman, from d'Œuilly, name of several places in Calvados, from Old French oeil (“eye”). 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 "doily", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dungy#83,205eider#83,212Danae#83,159Creon#83,152

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list