hazel
/ˈheɪzəl/
"hazel" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hazel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,133 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,133
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tree or shrub of the genus Corylus, bearing edible nuts called hazelnuts or filberts.
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 | hazel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈheɪzəl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #14,133 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hazel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hazel is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈheɪzəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,133 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 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 hazel, with forms such as "ahzel", "haezl", and "hazell". 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, "Hel", "heel", "hazy", 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 hasel, from Old English hæsl (“hazel, shrub”), from Proto-West Germanic *hasl, from Proto-Germanic *haslaz (“hazel”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóslos (“hazel”). Cognates Cognate with Yola hawlse (“hazel”), Dutch hazel, hazelaar (“hazel”… The correct English form is hazel, spelled H-A-Z-E-L.
Definition
- 1A tree or shrub of the genus Corylus, bearing edible nuts called hazelnuts or filberts.
- 2The nut of the hazel tree.
- 3The wood of a hazelnut tree.
- 4A greenish-brown colour, the colour of a ripe hazelnut.
- 5Freestone.
Etymology
From Middle English hasel, from Old English hæsl (“hazel, shrub”), from Proto-West Germanic *hasl, from Proto-Germanic *haslaz (“hazel”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóslos (“hazel”). Cognates Cognate with Yola hawlse (“hazel”), Dutch hazel, hazelaar (“hazel”), German Hasel (“hazel”), Vilamovian hozuł (“hazel”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish hassel (“hazel”), Icelandic hesli (“hazel”), Norwegian Nynorsk hasl, hassel (“hazel”); also Latin corulus, corylus (“hazel”), Irish call, coll (“hazel”), Manx coull (“hazel”), Scottish Gaelic coll (“hazel”), Welsh cyll (“hazel trees”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ahzel,haezl,hazell,hazle,hazzel,hhazel,hzael
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hazel - 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
How do you spell "hazel"?
What does "hazel" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "hazel"?
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Using “hazel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-A-Z-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈheɪzəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Hel” - see the side-by-side comparison. hazel vs Hel
- 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.