fossil
/ˈfɒsl̩/
"fossil" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fossil” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,228 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #7,228
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
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 | fossil |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɒsl̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #7,228 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fossil” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fossil is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɒsl̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,228 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for fossil, with forms such as "ffossil", "fosil", and "fosisl". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "FOIL", "FOSS", "fossa", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French fossile, from Latin fossilis (“something which has been dug up”), from fodio (“to dig up”). The correct English form is fossil, spelled F-O-S-S-I-L.
Definition
- 1The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
- 2Any preserved evidence of ancient life, including shells, imprints, burrows, coprolites, and organically-produced chemicals.
- 3A fossil word.
- 4Anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated.
- 5An extremely old or outdated person.
Etymology
From French fossile, from Latin fossilis (“something which has been dug up”), from fodio (“to dig up”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ffossil,fosil,fosisl,fossill,fossli,fsosil,ofssil
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fossil - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "fossil"?
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Using “fossil”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-O-S-S-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɒsl̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “FOIL” - see the side-by-side comparison. fossil vs FOIL
- 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.