journal

/ˈd͡ʒɝnəl/

//ˈd͡ʒɝnəl// noun

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

"journal" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“journal” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,762. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,762
frequency rank, English
796
“J” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A diary or daily record of a person, organization, vessel etc.; daybook.

Corpus desk

Index EN-journal · journal · English

journal · rank #1,762 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,762
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 796
  • PHOTO-FINISH Israel

Nearest frequency peer: Israel (-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 “journal”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “journal” 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).

journal vs journey
71% similar

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

Key facts for journal
PropertyValue
Headwordjournal
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈd͡ʒɝnəl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,762
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “journal”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).journallands 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 “Israel” (#1,761), “labor” (#1,763), “inc” (#1,760). Among 796 “J” headwords, “journal” is #1,762. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around journal (IPA /ˈd͡ʒɝnəl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,762 among 796 “J” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for journal, with forms such as "jjournal", "jorunal", and "jounral". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "journey", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English journal, from Anglo-Norman jurnal (“daily”), from Old French jornel (“day”) (whence modern French journal), from Latin diurnālis, from diurnus (“of the day”). Doublet of diurnal and the journal from French. The correct English form is journal, spelled J-O-U-R-N-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A diary or daily record of a person, organization, vessel etc.; daybook.
  2. 2
    A newspaper or magazine dealing with a particular subject.
  3. 3
    A chronological record of payments or receipts.
  4. 4
    A general journal.
  5. 5
    A chronological record of changes made to a database or other system; along with a backup or image copy that allows recovery after a failure or reinstatement to a previous time; a log.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The university's biology department subscribes to half a dozen academic journals.

Etymology

From Middle English journal, from Anglo-Norman jurnal (“daily”), from Old French jornel (“day”) (whence modern French journal), from Latin diurnālis, from diurnus (“of the day”). Doublet of diurnal and the journal from French.

Synonyms

daybookdiary

This word in other languages

bitácora(Español)journal(Français)Tagebuch(Deutsch)diário(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • jjournal
  • jorunal
  • jounral
  • jouranl
  • journall
  • journla
  • journnal
  • jourrnal
  • juornal
  • ojurnal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

jjournal1jorunal2jounral2jouranl2journall1journla2journnal1jourrnal1
Edit distance from "journal"

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 "journal"?
"journal" is spelled J-O-U-R-N-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈd͡ʒɝnəl/.
What does "journal" mean?
As a noun, "journal" means: A diary or daily record of a person, organization, vessel etc.; daybook.
What words are commonly confused with "journal"?
"journal" is commonly confused with "journey". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "journal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "journal" is /ˈd͡ʒɝnəl/. 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 "journal"?
From Middle English journal, from Anglo-Norman jurnal (“daily”), from Old French jornel (“day”) (whence modern French journal), from Latin diurnālis, from diurnus (“of the day”). Doublet of diurnal and the journal from French. 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 "journal", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

housing#1,759neither#1,767efforts#1,756patient#1,769

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

length10 variantsthinks10 variantsproduce10 variantsFlorida10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list