girl

/ˈɡɜːl/

//ˈɡɜːl// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"girl" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“girl” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #413. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#413
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A female child.

Corpus desk

Index EN-girl · girl · English

girl · rank #413 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #413
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH else

Nearest frequency peer: else (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “girl”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “girl” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

girl vs GR
0% similar
girl vs GL
0% similar
girl vs git
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for girl
PropertyValue
Headwordgirl
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡɜːl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#413
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “girl”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).girllands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “else” (#412), “john” (#414), “anyone” (#411). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “girl” is #413. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around girl (IPA /ˈɡɜːl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #413 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 14 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for girl, with forms such as "ggirl", "gilr", and "girll". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "GR", "GL", "git", 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 gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of gal/gyal and… The correct English form is girl, spelled G-I-R-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A female child.
  2. 2
    A woman, especially a young and often attractive woman.
  3. 3
    A term of address to a female (see usage notes)
  4. 4
    One's girlfriend.
  5. 5
    One's daughter.
  6. 6
    A female friend.
  7. 7
    A female non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a female pet, especially a dog.
  8. 8
    A female (tree, gene, etc).
  9. 9
    A machine or vehicle, especially one that the speaker uses often and is fond of.
  10. 10
    A female servant; a maid. (see usage notes)
  11. 11
    Cocaine, especially in powder form.
  12. 12
    A queen (the playing card).
  13. 13
    A roebuck two years old.
  14. 14
    A child of any gender.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how girl appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I saw a little girl feeding, brushing, and talking to a heifer.
  2. He has a crush on a girl at work. We were kidding with him yesterday about his work crush.

Etymology

From Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of gal/gyal and gyaru.

Synonyms

babebintbirdcakechickcolleencuttydamoiselledamselelrigfrailgalgelgirlgirliegirlygrillhottielasslassielittle girlmaggiemaidmaid childmaidenminoressmissmissymoggypoppetpucellepussqueantartwanwenchwoman child

Antonyms

womanboy

This word in other languages

niña(Español)fille(Français)Mädchen(Deutsch)menina(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggirl
  • gilr
  • girll
  • girrl
  • gril
  • igrl

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of girl - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ggirl1gilr2girll1girrl1gril2igrl2
Edit distance from "girl"

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 "girl"?
"girl" is spelled G-I-R-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɜːl/.
What does "girl" mean?
As a noun, "girl" means: A female child.
What words are commonly confused with "girl"?
"girl" is commonly confused with "GR", "GL", "git". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "girl"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "girl" is /ˈɡɜːl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "girl"?
From Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of ga... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "girl", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

else#412john#414nice#423room#403

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

matter6 variantsyork6 variantsfuck6 variantsclass6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list