kettle
/ˈkɛ.təl/
"kettle" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kettle” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,152 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,152
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A vessel for boiling a liquid or cooking food, usually metal and equipped with a lid.
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 | kettle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɛ.təl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #14,152 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kettle” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for kettle is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɛ.təl/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,152 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for kettle, with forms such as "ekttle", "ketle", and "ketlte". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "ketone", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ketel, also chetel, from Old English ċietel (“kettle, cauldron”) and in Middle English possibly influenced by Old Norse ketill and both from Proto-Germanic *katilaz (“kettle, bucket, vessel”), of uncertain origin and formation. Usually r… The correct English form is kettle, spelled K-E-T-T-L-E.
Definition
- 1A vessel for boiling a liquid or cooking food, usually metal and equipped with a lid.
- 2The quantity held by a kettle.
- 3A vessel or appliance used to boil water for the preparation of hot beverages and other foodstuffs.
- 4A kettle hole, sometimes any pothole.
- 5A group of raptors riding a thermal, especially when migrating.
- 6A steam locomotive.
- 7A kettledrum.
- 8An instance of kettling; a group of protesters or rioters confined in a limited area.
- 9A watch (timepiece).
- 10A bucket for holding a quantity of paint during the painting process.
- 11A type of encirclement.
- 12Ellipsis of kettle of fish.
Etymology
From Middle English ketel, also chetel, from Old English ċietel (“kettle, cauldron”) and in Middle English possibly influenced by Old Norse ketill and both from Proto-Germanic *katilaz (“kettle, bucket, vessel”), of uncertain origin and formation. Usually regarded as a borrowing of Late Latin catīllus (“small bowl”), diminutive of Latin catinus (“deep bowl, vessel for cooking up or serving food”), however, the word may be Germanic confused with the Latin: compare Old English cete (“cooking pot”), Old High German chezzi (“a kettle, dish, bowl”), Icelandic kati, ketla (“a small boat”). Cognate with West Frisian tsjettel (“kettle”), Dutch ketel (“kettle”), German Kessel (“kettle”), Swedish kittel (“cauldron, kettle”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (katils, “kettle”), Finnish kattila, Polish kocioł (“cauldron”), Czech kotel (“boiler”), Russian котёл (kotjól, “boiler, cauldron”). (watch): Cockney rhyming slang from 'kettle and hob' to 'fob' (fob watch).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ekttle,ketle,ketlte,kettel,kettlle,kkettle,ktetle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of kettle - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "kettle"?
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Using “kettle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-E-T-T-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɛ.təl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ketone” - see the side-by-side comparison. kettle vs ketone
- 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.