gillie
/ˈɡɪli/
"gillie" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gillie” is uncommon English (frequency #84,300 among 18,276 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,300
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male attendant of a Scottish Highland chief.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gillie |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡɪli/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #84,300 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gillie” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
gillie is uncommon English at frequency #84,300 among 18,276 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡɪli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for gillie in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scottish Gaelic gille (“helper”), from Middle Irish gilla (“youth, young man; boy, male child; messenger, page, servant”), possibly borrowed from Old Norse gildr (“brawny, stout; of full worth”). Compare Irish giolla (“boy”). The correct English form is gillie, spelled G-I-L-L-I-E.
Definition
- 1A male attendant of a Scottish Highland chief.
- 2A fishing and hunting guide; a man or boy who attends to a person who is fishing or hunting, especially in Scotland.
Etymology
From Scottish Gaelic gille (“helper”), from Middle Irish gilla (“youth, young man; boy, male child; messenger, page, servant”), possibly borrowed from Old Norse gildr (“brawny, stout; of full worth”). Compare Irish giolla (“boy”).
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 “gillie”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-I-L-L-I-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡɪli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.