# hull

> English word · Noun · IPA /hʌl/ · frequency rank #6,480

## Definitions
1. The outer covering of a fruit or seed.
2. Any covering.

## Etymology
From Middle English hul, hulle, holle (“seed covering, hull of a ship”), from Old English hulu (“seed covering”), from Proto-Germanic *hul-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide”); or possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kal- (“hard”).
Compare Dutch hul (“hood”), German Hülle (“cover, wrap”), Hülse (“hull”); also Old Irish calad, calath (“hard”), Latin callus, callum (“rough skin”), Old Church Slavonic калити (kaliti, “to cool, harden”). For the sense development, compare French coque (“nutshell; ship's hull”), Ancient Greek φάσηλος (phásēlos, “bean pod; yacht”).

## Easily confused with
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hut)
- **hum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hum)
- **hun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hun)
- **Hur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hur)
- **Hus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hus)
- **Huw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-huw)
- **hurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hurt)
- **hunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hunt)
- **hung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hung)
- **hush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hush)
- **hump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hump)
- **Hume** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hume)
- **huts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-huts)
- **hunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hunk)
- **Hurd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hurd)
- **hurl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hurl)
- **Huns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-huns)
- **husk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-husk)
- **Hutt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hutt)
- **Hutu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hull-vs-hutu)

## Common misspellings (4)
`hhull`, `hlul`, `hul`, `uhll`

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