guild

/ɡɪld/

//ɡɪld// noun

"guild" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“guild” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,923. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,923
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A group or association mainly of tradespeople made up of merchants, craftspeople, or artisans, particularly in the Middle Ages, established to oversee and protect their specific commercial interest...

Corpus desk

Index EN-guild · guild · English

guild · rank #7,923 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,923
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH halt

Nearest frequency peer: halt (+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 “guild”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “guild” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

guild vs gul
60% similar
guild vs gulf
60% similar
guild vs gull
60% similar

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

Key facts for guild
PropertyValue
Headwordguild
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡɪld/
Letters5
Frequency rank#7,923
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “guild” sits in English frequency

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).guildlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “halt” (#7,924), “ginger” (#7,921), “han” (#7,925). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around guild (IPA /ɡɪld/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,923 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for guild, with forms such as "gguild", "giuld", and "guidl". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "gul", "gulf", "gull", 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 gilde, from Old Norse gildi (“payment, guild”). Related to geld, yield, yauld. The correct English form is guild, spelled G-U-I-L-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    A group or association mainly of tradespeople made up of merchants, craftspeople, or artisans, particularly in the Middle Ages, established to oversee and protect their specific commercial interests and to provide mutual aid.
  2. 2
    A corporation.
  3. 3
    A group of diverse species that share common characteristics or habits.
  4. 4
    An organized group of players who regularly play together in a multiplayer game.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The swinging of its censers, the silence of its members / Oh, the Guild of Mute Assassins

Etymology

From Middle English gilde, from Old Norse gildi (“payment, guild”). Related to geld, yield, yauld.

Synonyms

Hansetrade unionunionprofessional association

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • gguild
  • giuld
  • guidl
  • guildd
  • guilld
  • gulid
  • ugild

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of guild - 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.

gguild1giuld2guidl2guildd1guilld1gulid2ugild2
Edit distance from "guild"

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 "guild"?
"guild" is spelled G-U-I-L-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡɪld/.
What does "guild" mean?
As a noun, "guild" means: A group or association mainly of tradespeople made up of merchants, craftspeople, or artisans, particularly in the Middle Ages, established to oversee and protect their specific commercial interest...
What words are commonly confused with "guild"?
"guild" is commonly confused with "gul", "gulf", "gull". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "guild"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "guild" is /ɡɪld/. 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 "guild"?
From Middle English gilde, from Old Norse gildi (“payment, guild”). Related to geld, yield, yauld. 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 "guild", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "guild". Here's where to go from here.

  • "guild" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "gul". View pair
  • 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #7,923 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "G" letter cohort. G–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list