easel
/ˈiː.z(ə)l/
"easel" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“easel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #42,618 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #42,618
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An upright frame, typically on three legs, for displaying or supporting something, such as an artist's canvas.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | easel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈiː.z(ə)l/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #42,618 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “easel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for easel is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈiː.z(ə)l/. Corpus data places it at rank #42,618 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An upright frame, typically on three legs, for displaying or supporting something, such as an artist's canvas.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for easel, with forms such as "aesel", "eaesl", and "easell". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "eel", "ESL", "ese", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Dutch ezel (“donkey; easel”), from Middle Dutch esel (“donkey”), from Proto-West Germanic *asil, from Latin asellus (“young ass or small donkey”), diminutive of asinus (“ass, donkey”), ultimately from an unknown source in Asia Minor. Essential… The correct English form is easel, spelled E-A-S-E-L.
Definition
- 1An upright frame, typically on three legs, for displaying or supporting something, such as an artist's canvas.
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch ezel (“donkey; easel”), from Middle Dutch esel (“donkey”), from Proto-West Germanic *asil, from Latin asellus (“young ass or small donkey”), diminutive of asinus (“ass, donkey”), ultimately from an unknown source in Asia Minor. Essentially, the stand that a painting is placed on is being likened to a donkey carrying a burden; compare horse (“a frame with legs used to support something”), as in clotheshorse and sawhorse.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aesel,eaesl,easell,easle,eassel,esael
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of easel - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “easel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-A-S-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈiː.z(ə)l/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “eel” - see the side-by-side comparison. easel vs eel
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.