kestrel
/ˈkɛstɹəl/
"kestrel" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kestrel” is uncommon English (frequency #54,882 among 9,255 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,882
- frequency rank, English
- 9,255
- “K” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of various small falcons of the genus Falco that hover while hunting.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kestrel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɛstɹəl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #54,882 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kestrel” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
kestrel is uncommon English at frequency #54,882 among 9,255 “K” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɛstɹəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for kestrel in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English castrel (“staniel, bird of prey”), from Middle French cresserelle, crecerelle (“bird of prey”), usually assumed to be from crecelle (“rattle, wooden reel”) (modern crécelle), of obscure origin. Cognates possibly include: Medieval Latin c… The correct English form is kestrel, spelled K-E-S-T-R-E-L.
Definition
- 1Any of various small falcons of the genus Falco that hover while hunting.
- 2A common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus).
Etymology
From Middle English castrel (“staniel, bird of prey”), from Middle French cresserelle, crecerelle (“bird of prey”), usually assumed to be from crecelle (“rattle, wooden reel”) (modern crécelle), of obscure origin. Cognates possibly include: Medieval Latin clisterella f, French crécerelle f and cristel m, Neapolitan castariello m and crestariello m, all sharing the same meaning. Derivation from the assumed Vulgar Latin *crepicella, *crepitacillum, a diminutive of crepitāculum, from crepitāre (“to crackle”) is difficult to explain from a morphological point of view. Instead, possibly from a root *krek-, *krak- (“to crack, rattle, creak, emit a bird cry”), from Middle Dutch crāken (“to creak, crack”), from Old Dutch *krakōn (“to crack, creak, emit a cry”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną (“to emit a cry, shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerg- (“to shout”). Cognate with Old High German krahhōn (“to make a sound, crash”), Old English cracian (“to resound”), French craquer (“to emit a repeated cry, used of birds”). More at creak, crack.
This word in other languages
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 “kestrel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-E-S-T-R-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɛstɹəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.