heal
/hiːl/
"heal" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“heal” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,886. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,886
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
Corpus desk
Index EN-heal · heal · English
heal · rank #5,886 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,886
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 23,837
- PHOTO-FINISH ham
Nearest frequency peer: ham (-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 “heal”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- feminist
feminist
94,118 corpus weight
- governing
governing
94,117 corpus weight
- ham
ham
94,116 corpus weight
- heal
heal
94,115 corpus weight
- interface
interface
94,114 corpus weight
- iOS
iOS
94,113 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “heal” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | heal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /hiːl/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #5,886 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “heal” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around heal (IPA /hiːl/), averb. Corpus frequency is #5,886 among 23,837 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for heal, with forms such as "ehal", "hael", and "heall". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "her", "hey", "hes", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English helen, from Old English hǣlan (“to heal, cure, save, greet, salute”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailijan, from Proto-Germanic *hailijaną (“to heal, make whole, save”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos (“healthy, whole”). Derived from t… The correct English form is heal, spelled H-E-A-L.
Definition
- 1To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
- 2To become better or healthy again.
- 3To reconcile, as a breach or difference; to make whole; to free from guilt.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how heal appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This bandage will help to heal your cut.
Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Etymology
From Middle English helen, from Old English hǣlan (“to heal, cure, save, greet, salute”), from Proto-West Germanic *hailijan, from Proto-Germanic *hailijaną (“to heal, make whole, save”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos (“healthy, whole”). Derived from the adjective at hand in whole. Cognates Cognate with Scots hale, hail (“to heal”), Saterland Frisian heila, heilen (“to heal”), West Frisian hielje, Dutch helen (“to heal”), German heilen (“to heal”), Danish hele, Swedish hela (“to heal”), and further Russian цели́ть (celítʹ, “to heal”), Polish calić (“to save”), Czech celit (“to heal”), Serbo-Croatian céliti (“to heal”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ehal
- hael
- heall
- hela
- hheal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of heal - 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.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "heal"?
What does "heal" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "heal"?
How do you pronounce "heal"?
What is the origin of the word "heal"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "heal", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
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.