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doll

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "doll", 4-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 "doll" 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 "doll" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

doll is aEnglishnoun. It means: A small figure resembling a human being that is used as a toy. Pronounced /dɒl/. It ranks #6,462 in English word frequency. Often confused with don and dot.

Key facts for doll
PropertyValue
Headworddoll
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɒl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#6,462
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of doll in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for doll is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɒl/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,462 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 3 documented wrong-spelling variants for doll, with forms such as "ddoll", "dlol", and "odll". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "don", "dot", "dom", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Doll, pet form of the given name Dorothy. Etymology 1 sense 7 was coined and popularized by American writer Jacqueline Susann in 1966 through her book Valley of the Dolls (1966) and the film adaptation Valley of the Dolls (1967). 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 doll, spelled D-O-L-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A small figure resembling a human being that is used as a toy.
  2. 2
    An attractive young woman.
  3. 3
    An attractive young woman.
  4. 4
    An attractive young woman.
  5. 5
    A term of endearment
  6. 6
    A good-natured, cooperative or helpful person.
  7. 7
    The smallest or pet pig in a litter.
  8. 8
    A short signal post mounted on a bracket mounted on the main signal post, or on a signal gantry.
  9. 9
    A barbiturate or amphetamine pill.

Etymology

From Doll, pet form of the given name Dorothy. Etymology 1 sense 7 was coined and popularized by American writer Jacqueline Susann in 1966 through her book Valley of the Dolls (1966) and the film adaptation Valley of the Dolls (1967).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddoll,dlol,odll

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for doll

Misspelling Variants of "doll"

ddoll5dlol4odll4
Misspelling Variants of "doll"

Frequency rank: #6,462 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "doll"?
"doll" is spelled D-O-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /dɒl/.
What does "doll" mean?
As a noun, "doll" means: A small figure resembling a human being that is used as a toy.
What words are commonly confused with "doll"?
"doll" is commonly confused with "don", "dot", "dom". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "doll"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "doll" is /dɒl/. 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 "doll"?
From Doll, pet form of the given name Dorothy. Etymology 1 sense 7 was coined and popularized by American writer Jacqueline Susann in 1966 through her book Valley of the Dolls (1966) and the film adaptation Valley of the Dolls (1967). 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.