# kelp

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɛlp/ · frequency rank #34,146

## Definitions
1. Any of several large brown algae seaweeds (especially of order Laminariales).
2. The calcined ashes of seaweed, formerly used in glass and iodine manufacture.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English *kelpe, culpe, *kilpe (Early Modern English kilpe), of unclear origin, though the attested forms point to Old English *cylp, possibly from Proto-West Germanic *kulpi, from Proto-Germanic *kulpiz (“lump, boll”, referencing the airsacks of species such as bladderwrack and knotweed), potentially a substrate term connected to Latin globus (“globe”) and Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“clump”).
If the above theory is accepted, cognate with Low German Kulp, Külp, Kulpe (“lump in the eye, ball, thick nose”), Norwegian Nynorsk kulp (“short tube”), and Swedish kulp (“stout person”); further compare Bavarian Kolpel (“lump of stone”), Icelandic kúlpa (“to protrude”), Low German kulpen, külpen (“to pile up”), Low German Kulpogen (“large eye”), and West Frisian kolpje (“to pout”).

## Easily confused with
- **KL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kl)
- **KP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kp)
- **key** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-key)
- **ken** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-ken)
- **Kev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kev)
- **kew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kew)
- **kip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kip)
- **ker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-ker)
- **KLM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-klm)
- **Kop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kop)
- **kill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kill)
- **kept** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kept)
- **keys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-keys)
- **Kent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kent)
- **Kyle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kyle)
- **Kerr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kerr)
- **kemp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kemp)
- **kern** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kern)
- **kilo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kilo)
- **kiln** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kelp-vs-kiln)

## Common misspellings (6)
`eklp`, `kellp`, `kelpp`, `kepl`, `kkelp`, `klep`

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