# English

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈɪŋ(ɡ)lɪʃ/ · frequency rank #653

## Definitions
1. Of or pertaining to England.
2. English-language; of or pertaining to the language, descended from Anglo-Saxon, which developed in England.
3. Of or pertaining to the people of England (e.g. Englishmen and Englishwomen).
4. Of or pertaining to the avoirdupois system of measure.
5. Non-Amish, so named for speaking English rather than a variety of German.
6. Denoting 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

## Easily confused with
- **enlist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/english-vs-enlist)

## Common misspellings (11)
`egnlish`, `engglish`, `engilsh`, `englihs`, `englishh`, `englissh`, `engllish`, `englsih`, `enlgish`, `ennglish`, `neglish`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/english