English
/ˈɪŋ(ɡ)lɪʃ/
"english" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“English” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #653 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #653
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or pertaining to England.
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 | English |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɪŋ(ɡ)lɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #653 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “English” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for English is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪŋ(ɡ)lɪʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #653 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for English, with forms such as "egnlish", "engglish", and "engilsh". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "enlist", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Englisch, English, Inglis, from Old English Englisċ (“of the Angles; English”), from Engle (“the Angles”), a Germanic tribe + -isċ; equivalent to Engle + -ish. Compare West Frisian Ingelsk, Scots Inglis (older ynglis), Dutch Engels, Dani… The correct English form is English, spelled E-N-G-L-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to England.
- 2English-language; of or pertaining to the language, descended from Anglo-Saxon, which developed in England.
- 3Of or pertaining to the people of England (e.g. Englishmen and Englishwomen).
- 4Of or pertaining to the avoirdupois system of measure.
- 5Non-Amish, so named for speaking English rather than a variety of German.
- 6Denoting a vertical orientation of the barn doors on a camera.
Etymology
From Middle English Englisch, English, Inglis, from Old English Englisċ (“of the Angles; English”), from Engle (“the Angles”), a Germanic tribe + -isċ; equivalent to Engle + -ish. Compare West Frisian Ingelsk, Scots Inglis (older ynglis), Dutch Engels, Danish engelsk, Old French Englesche (whence French anglais), German englisch, Spanish inglés, all ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- (“narrow”) (compare Sanskrit अंहु (áṃhu, “narrow”), अंहस् (áṃhas, “anxiety, sin”), Latin angustus (“narrow”), Old Church Slavonic ѫзъкъ (ǫzŭkŭ, “narrow”)). More at Angles (tribe) § Etymology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: egnlish,engglish,engilsh,englihs,englishh,englissh,engllish,englsih,enlgish,ennglish,neglish
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of English - 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.
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 "English"?
What does "English" mean?
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What is the origin of the word "English"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “English”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-N-G-L-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɪŋ(ɡ)lɪʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “enlist” - see the side-by-side comparison. English vs enlist
- 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.