hummel
/ˈhʌm(ə)l/
"hummel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hummel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #46,528 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #46,528
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A stag that has failed to grow antlers; a cow that has not developed horns.
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 | hummel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhʌm(ə)l/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #46,528 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hummel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for hummel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhʌm(ə)l/. Corpus data places it at rank #46,528 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 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 hummel, with forms such as "hhummel", "hmumel", and "humel". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "hummus", "hummer", "Hume", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably from Middle English hamelen (“to maim, mutilate; to cut short”), from Old English hamelian (“to hamstring, mutilate”), from Proto-Germanic *hamalōną, *hamlōną (“to mutilate”), from Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“hornless; mutilated”). Cognate with Dut… The correct English form is hummel, spelled H-U-M-M-E-L.
Definition
- 1A stag that has failed to grow antlers; a cow that has not developed horns.
- 2Especially in hummel corn: grain that lacks awns (beards or bristles), or has had its awns removed (barley, oats, etc.).
Etymology
Probably from Middle English hamelen (“to maim, mutilate; to cut short”), from Old English hamelian (“to hamstring, mutilate”), from Proto-Germanic *hamalōną, *hamlōną (“to mutilate”), from Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“hornless; mutilated”). Cognate with Dutch hamel (“wether”), English hamble, Low German hommel, hummel (“an animal lacking horns”), humlich, dialectal hommlich (“lacking horns”), Bavarian humlet (“lacking horns”), German hammeln, hämmeln (“to geld”), Icelandic hamla (“to maim, mutilate”). OxfordDictionaries.com suggests that the “ear of grain with its awns removed” sense preceded the “animal without antlers or horns” sense.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hhummel,hmumel,humel,humeml,hummell,hummle,uhmmel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of hummel - 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
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Using “hummel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-U-M-M-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhʌm(ə)l/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “hummus” - see the side-by-side comparison. hummel vs hummus
- 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.