gland
/ɡlænd/
"gland" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gland” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,620 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,620
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A specialized cell, group of cells, or organ of endothelial origin in the human or animal body that synthesizes a chemical substance, such as hormones or breast milk, and releases it, often into th...
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 | gland |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡlænd/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #17,620 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gland” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for gland is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɡlænd/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,620 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for gland, with forms such as "galnd", "ggland", and "gladn". 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, "glen", "grad", "gran", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Late 17th century borrowing from French glande, alteration of Old French glandre, from Latin glandulae (“throat glands, tonsils”), plural of glandula (“a little acorn”), from glāns (“an acorn”) + -ula (diminutive nominal suffix). The correct English form is gland, spelled G-L-A-N-D.
Definition
- 1A specialized cell, group of cells, or organ of endothelial origin in the human or animal body that synthesizes a chemical substance, such as hormones or breast milk, and releases it, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).
- 2A specialized cell, group of cells, or organ of endothelial origin in the human or animal body that synthesizes a chemical substance, such as hormones or breast milk, and releases it, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).
- 3A secretory structure on the surface of an organ.
Etymology
Late 17th century borrowing from French glande, alteration of Old French glandre, from Latin glandulae (“throat glands, tonsils”), plural of glandula (“a little acorn”), from glāns (“an acorn”) + -ula (diminutive nominal suffix).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: galnd,ggland,gladn,glandd,glannd,glland,glnad,lgand
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gland - 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 “gland”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-L-A-N-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɡlænd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “glen” - see the side-by-side comparison. gland vs glen
- 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.