keel
/kiːl/noun, verb
keel is spelled K-E-E-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, keel means “A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of keel is keels.
How many letters and syllables are in keel?
| Letters | 4: K-E-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,651st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is keel?
Keel appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,651st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce keel?
- UK /kiːl/
Keel has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-keel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with keel?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as keel from its last stressed vowel (/il/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: leek, elke.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of keel
- keels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- keeling participle, present
- keeled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does keel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern.
- 2
A rigid, flat piece of material anchored to the lowest part of the hull of a ship to give it greater control and stability.
- 3
In a dirigible, a construction similar in form and use to a ship's keel; in an aeroplane, a fin or fixed surface employed to increase stability and to hold the machine to its course.
- 4
The rigid bottom part of something else, especially an iceberg.
- 5
A type of flat-bottomed boat.
- 6
The periphery of a whorl extended to form a more or less flattened plate; a prominent spiral ridge.
- 7
The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and enclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina.
- 8
The extension of a bird's sternum to which pectoral muscles attach.
- 9
A broad, flat vessel used for cooling liquids; a brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.
- 10
ScotlandRed chalk; ruddle.
verb
- 1
To collapse, to fall.
He keeled over after having a stroke.
- 2
To traverse with a keel; to navigate.
- 3
To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.
- 4
ScotlandTo mark with ruddle.
- 5
obsoleteTo cool; make cool; to cool by stirring or skimming in order to keep from boiling over.
- 6
obsoleteTo moderate the ardour or intensity of; assuage; to appease, pacify, or lessen.
- 7
obsoleteTo become cool; cool down.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Keel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does keel come from?
From Middle English kele, from Old Norse kjǫlr, itself from Proto-Germanic *keluz, of uncertain origin. Displaced Old English ċēol from a related root. Distantly related to kile.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).