gimbal
/ˈd͡ʒɪmbəl/
"gimbal" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gimbal” is uncommon English (frequency #53,575 among 18,276 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #53,575
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A device for suspending something, such as a ship's compass, so that it will remain level when its support is tipped.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gimbal · gimbal · English
gimbal · rank #53,575 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #53,575
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 18,276
- PHOTO-FINISH ghulam
Nearest frequency peer: ghulam (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “gimbal”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Gaurav
Gaurav
46,433 corpus weight
- Gennaro
Gennaro
46,429 corpus weight
- geologically
geologically
46,428 corpus weight
- ghulam
ghulam
46,427 corpus weight
- gimbal
gimbal
46,426 corpus weight
- Gosford
Gosford
46,424 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “gimbal” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gimbal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒɪmbəl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #53,575 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gimbal” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
gimbal is uncommon English at frequency #53,575 among 18,276 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈd͡ʒɪmbəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A device for suspending something, such as a ship's compass, so that it will remain level when its support is tipped.".
gimbal doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration of gemel, from Old French gemel, jumel (“twin”) (French jumeau), from Latin gemellus. The correct English form is gimbal, spelled G-I-M-B-A-L.
Definition
- 1A device for suspending something, such as a ship's compass, so that it will remain level when its support is tipped.
Etymology
Alteration of gemel, from Old French gemel, jumel (“twin”) (French jumeau), from Latin gemellus.
This word in other languages
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gimbal", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency 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.