grail
/ɡɹeɪl/
"grail" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“grail” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,823 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,823
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The Holy Grail.
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 | grail |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɡɹeɪl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #15,823 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “grail” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for grail is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɡɹeɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,823 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for grail, with forms such as "garil", "ggrail", and "graill". 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, "gray", "grid", "grip", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English graal, greal, from Old French graal, greal (“cup”), from Medieval Latin gradalis, possibly corrupted over time from Latin crater (“bowl”). The correct English form is grail, spelled G-R-A-I-L.
Definition
- 1The Holy Grail.
- 2Something eagerly sought or quested for.
Etymology
From Middle English graal, greal, from Old French graal, greal (“cup”), from Medieval Latin gradalis, possibly corrupted over time from Latin crater (“bowl”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: garil,ggrail,graill,grali,grial,grrail,rgail
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grail - 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 “grail”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-R-A-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɡɹeɪl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gray” - see the side-by-side comparison. grail vs gray
- 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.