# gull

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡʌl/ · frequency rank #28,938

## Definitions
1. A seabird of the genus Larus or of the subfamily Larinae.
2. Any of various pierid butterflies of the genus Cepora.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English gulle, from a Brythonic language (compare Breton gouelan, Welsh gwylan, and Cornish golan), from Proto-Brythonic *gwuɨlann, from Proto-Celtic *weilannā (“seagull”).
Cognate with Old Irish foílenn, Scottish Gaelic faoileag. Compare French goéland, a borrowing from Breton. Eclipsed Middle English lare (borrowed from Latin larus) and Middle English mewe (from Old English mæw).

## Easily confused with
- **guy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-guy)
- **gun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gun)
- **gut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gut)
- **gum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gum)
- **Gus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gus)
- **Guo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-guo)
- **guys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-guys)
- **guns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-guns)
- **guru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-guru)
- **guts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-guts)
- **Gunn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gunn)
- **gums** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gums)
- **gust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gust)
- **gump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gump)
- **gulp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gulp)
- **gush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gush)
- **gurl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gurl)
- **gully** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gully)
- **gulls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gull-vs-gulls)
- **GL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gl-vs-gull)

## Common misspellings (3)
`ggull`, `glul`, `ugll`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gull