gallon
/ˈɡælən/
"gallon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gallon” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,369 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,369
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A unit of volume, equivalent to eight pints
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 | gallon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡælən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #10,369 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gallon” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gallon is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡælən/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,369 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. 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 gallon, with forms such as "agllon", "gallno", and "gallonn". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "Gaon", "Gaston", "Gallup", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English gallon, galoun, galun, from Old Northern French galun, galon (“liquid measure”) (compare Old French jalon), from Late Latin galum, galus (“measure of wine”), from Vulgar Latin *galla (“vessel”), possibly from Gaulish *galla, ultimately f… The correct English form is gallon, spelled G-A-L-L-O-N.
Definition
- 1A unit of volume, equivalent to eight pints
- 2exactly 4.54609 liters; an imperial gallon
- 3231 cubic inches or approximately 3.785 liters for liquids (a "U.S. liquid gallon")
- 4one-eighth of a U.S. bushel or approximately 4.405 liters for dry goods (a "U.S. dry gallon").
- 5A large quantity (of any liquid).
Etymology
From Middle English gallon, galoun, galun, from Old Northern French galun, galon (“liquid measure”) (compare Old French jalon), from Late Latin galum, galus (“measure of wine”), from Vulgar Latin *galla (“vessel”), possibly from Gaulish *galla, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“goblet”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κύλιξ (kúlix, “cup”), Sanskrit कलश (kalaśa, “jar, pitcher; measure of liquid”). Related to Old French gille (“wine measure”) (from Medieval Latin gillō (“earthenware jar”)), Old French jale (“bowl”), Old French jaloie (“measure of capacity”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: agllon,gallno,gallonn,galoln,galon,ggallon,glalon
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gallon - 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 “gallon”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-A-L-L-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡælən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Gaon” - see the side-by-side comparison. gallon vs Gaon
- 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.