gules
/ˈɡjuːlz/
"gules" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gules” is uncommon English (frequency #74,144 among 2,313 “G” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #74,144
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Red, e.g. on a coat of arms, typically represented in engraving by vertical parallel lines.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gules · gules · English
gules · rank #74,144 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #74,144
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH gynaecological
Nearest frequency peer: gynaecological (+2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “gules”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- grigio
grigio
25,864 corpus weight
- grimacing
grimacing
25,863 corpus weight
- grinded
grinded
25,862 corpus weight
- gules
gules
25,857 corpus weight
- gynaecologi…
gynaecological
25,855 corpus weight
- haf
haf
25,854 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “gules” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gules |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡjuːlz/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #74,144 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “gules” in English
Rare enough to double-check
gules is uncommon English at frequency #74,144 among 2,313 “G” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡjuːlz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Red, e.g. on a coat of arms, typically represented in engraving by vertical parallel lines.".
gules has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English goules, from Old French geule (“animal’s mouth, throat”) via Middle French geules. Compare with French gueules, Portuguese goelas and Spanish gules. The correct English form is gules, spelled G-U-L-E-S.
Definition
- 1Red, e.g. on a coat of arms, typically represented in engraving by vertical parallel lines.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how gules appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The official blazon of the arms of Perth is "Gules, a Holy Lambe passant regardant staff and cross argent, with the banner of St. Andrew proper, all within a double tressure counter-flowered of the second": […].
Etymology
From Middle English goules, from Old French geule (“animal’s mouth, throat”) via Middle French geules. Compare with French gueules, Portuguese goelas and Spanish gules.
This word in other languages
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gules", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).