kale
/keɪl/
"kale" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kale” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,652 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,652
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An edible plant, similar to cabbage, with curled leaves that do not form a dense head (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)
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 | kale |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /keɪl/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #17,652 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kale” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for kale is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /keɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,652 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for kale, with forms such as "akle", "kael", and "kalle". 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, "Ke", "KL", "kay", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Northern Middle English cale, cal (Southern col), from Old English cāl, cāul, cāwel, from Latin caulis. Compare Icelandic kál (“cabbage”), German Kohl (“cabbage”). Doublet of caulis, cole, and gobi. The correct English form is kale, spelled K-A-L-E.
Definition
- 1An edible plant, similar to cabbage, with curled leaves that do not form a dense head (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)
- 2Any of several cabbage-like food plants that are kinds of Brassica oleracea.
- 3Broth containing kale as a chief ingredient.
- 4Money.
Etymology
From Northern Middle English cale, cal (Southern col), from Old English cāl, cāul, cāwel, from Latin caulis. Compare Icelandic kál (“cabbage”), German Kohl (“cabbage”). Doublet of caulis, cole, and gobi.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: akle,kael,kalle,kkale,klae
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of kale - 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 “kale”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-A-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /keɪl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Ke” - see the side-by-side comparison. kale vs Ke
- 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.