homily

/ˈhɒmɪli/

//ˈhɒmɪli// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"homily" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“homily” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #45,432. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#45,432
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A sermon, especially concerning a practical matter.

Corpus desk

Index EN-homily · homily · English

homily · rank #45,432 · 9 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #45,432
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hor

Nearest frequency peer: hor (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “homily”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “homily” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

homily vs hotly
67% similar
homily vs hourly
67% similar
homily vs humbly
67% similar

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

Key facts for homily
PropertyValue
Headwordhomily
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɒmɪli/
Letters6
Frequency rank#45,432
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “homily”

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).homilylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “hor” (#45,433), “Hornby” (#45,434), “Hodgkin” (#45,429). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “homily” is #45,432. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around homily (IPA /ˈhɒmɪli/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #45,432 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for homily, with forms such as "hhomily", "hmoily", and "hoimly". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "hotly", "hourly", "humbly", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English omelī, omelīe, omelye, from Old French omelie and directly from Late Latin homīlia (“homily”), from Ancient Greek ὁμῑλίᾱ (homīlíā, “homily; instruction”), from ὅμῑλος (hómīlos, “crowd, throng”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming abstract femin… The correct English form is homily, spelled H-O-M-I-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sermon, especially concerning a practical matter.
  2. 2
    A moralizing lecture.
  3. 3
    A platitude.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. O moſt gentle Iupiter! What tedious homilie of Loue haue you wearied your pariſhioners withall, and neuer cri'de, haue patience good people.
  2. But to return to the Homily on St. Gregory. It is printed from a Tranſcript I had made of it from one made by Dr. Hopkins, I believe, out of the Cottonian Book, Vitellius D. 17. […] The Homily is one of thoſe which were prepared by Ælfrick, to be uſed in the Engliſh Saxon Church: […]

Etymology

From Middle English omelī, omelīe, omelye, from Old French omelie and directly from Late Latin homīlia (“homily”), from Ancient Greek ὁμῑλίᾱ (homīlíā, “homily; instruction”), from ὅμῑλος (hómīlos, “crowd, throng”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming abstract feminine nouns). ὅμῑλος is derived from ὁμός (homós, “common; same”) + ῑ̓́λη (ī́lē, “crowd”) (from εἴλω (eílō, “to aggregate”)).

This word in other languages

homilía(Español)homélie(Français)Homilie(Deutsch)homília(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhomily
  • hmoily
  • hoimly
  • homilly
  • homilyy
  • homiyl
  • homliy
  • hommily
  • ohmily

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of homily - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hhomily1hmoily2hoimly2homilly1homilyy1homiyl2homliy2hommily1
Edit distance from "homily"

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 "homily"?
"homily" is spelled H-O-M-I-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɒmɪli/.
What does "homily" mean?
As a noun, "homily" means: A sermon, especially concerning a practical matter.
What words are commonly confused with "homily"?
"homily" is commonly confused with "hotly", "hourly", "humbly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "homily"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "homily" is /ˈhɒmɪli/. 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 "homily"?
From Middle English omelī, omelīe, omelye, from Old French omelie and directly from Late Latin homīlia (“homily”), from Ancient Greek ὁμῑλίᾱ (homīlíā, “homily; instruction”), from ὅμῑλος (hómīlos, “crowd, throng”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming abst... 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 "homily", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Hornby#45,434Hillel#45,428humpty#45,437Ibanez#45,440

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

glowed9 variantsglades9 variantskarmic9 variantsfucken9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list