gospel

/ˈɡɒspəl/

//ˈɡɒspəl// noun

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

"gospel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gospel” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,328. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,328
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The first section of the Christian New Testament scripture, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, concerned with the birth, ministry, passion, and resurrection of Jesus.

Corpus desk

Index EN-gospel · gospel · English

gospel · rank #5,328 · 9 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,328
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH garbage

Nearest frequency peer: garbage (-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 “gospel”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “gospel” 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).

gospel vs Gopal
50% similar
gospel vs gasped
67% similar
gospel vs Goshen
50% similar

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

Key facts for gospel
PropertyValue
Headwordgospel
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɡɒspəl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,328
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “gospel”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).gospellands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “garbage” (#5,327), “grain” (#5,329), “floating” (#5,326). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “gospel” is #5,328. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around gospel (IPA /ˈɡɒspəl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,328 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for gospel, with forms such as "ggospel", "gopsel", and "gosepl". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Gopal", "gasped", "Goshen", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English gospel, gospell, godspel, godspell, goddspell, from Old English godspell (“gospel”), corresponding to God + spell (“talk, tale, story”), literally “the message of God”, believed to be an alteration of earlier *gōdspell (literally “good n… The correct English form is gospel, spelled G-O-S-P-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    The first section of the Christian New Testament scripture, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, concerned with the birth, ministry, passion, and resurrection of Jesus.
  2. 2
    An account of those aspects of Jesus' life, generally written during the first several centuries of the Common Era.
  3. 3
    The teaching of Divine grace as distinguished from the Law or Divine commandments.
  4. 4
    A message expected to have positive reception or effect, one promoted as offering important (or even infallible) guiding principles.
  5. 5
    That which is absolutely authoritative (definitive).
  6. 6
    Gospel music.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Spreading the gospel of dental hygiene in Vermont
  2. took her words for gospel

Etymology

From Middle English gospel, gospell, godspel, godspell, goddspell, from Old English godspell (“gospel”), corresponding to God + spell (“talk, tale, story”), literally “the message of God”, believed to be an alteration of earlier *gōdspell (literally “good news”), used to translate ecclesiastical Latin bona annūntiātiō, itself a translation of Ecclesiastical Latin ēvangelium / Ancient Greek εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion, “evangel”, literally “good news”) (English evangel). Compare Old Saxon gōdspel and godspell (“gospel”), Old High German and Middle High German gotspel (“gospel”), Icelandic guðspjall (“gospel”), and the modern calque Malayalam സുവിശേഷം (suviśēṣaṁ).

Synonyms

evangel

This word in other languages

evangelio(Español)évangile(Français)Evangelium(Deutsch)evangelho(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ggospel
  • gopsel
  • gosepl
  • gospell
  • gosple
  • gosppel
  • gosspel
  • gsopel
  • ogspel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gospel - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ggospel1gopsel2gosepl2gospell1gosple2gosppel1gosspel1gsopel2
Edit distance from "gospel"

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 "gospel"?
"gospel" is spelled G-O-S-P-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɡɒspəl/.
What does "gospel" mean?
As a noun, "gospel" means: The first section of the Christian New Testament scripture, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, concerned with the birth, ministry, passion, and resurrection of Jesus.
What words are commonly confused with "gospel"?
"gospel" is commonly confused with "Gopal", "gasped", "Goshen". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "gospel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "gospel" is /ˈɡɒspəl/. 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 "gospel"?
From Middle English gospel, gospell, godspel, godspell, goddspell, from Old English godspell (“gospel”), corresponding to God + spell (“talk, tale, story”), literally “the message of God”, believed to be an alteration of earlier *gōdspell (literal... 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 "gospel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

patent#5,345pupils#5,351cherry#5,303carpet#5,301

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

examine9 variantsendless9 variantscancel9 variantsbattles9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list