laurel
/ˈlɒɹ.əl/
"laurel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“laurel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,454 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,454
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An evergreen shrub of species Laurus nobilis, having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.
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 | laurel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɒɹ.əl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #12,454 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “laurel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for laurel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɒɹ.əl/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,454 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for laurel, with forms such as "alurel", "laruel", and "lauerl". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "lure", "Lauren", "Laurie", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English laurer, laurel, from Anglo-Norman lorer, from Old French lorier, from Vulgar Latin *laurārius, from Latin laurus (“laurel”). Doublet of loureiro. The correct English form is laurel, spelled L-A-U-R-E-L.
Definition
- 1An evergreen shrub of species Laurus nobilis, having aromatic leaves of a lanceolate shape, with clusters of small, yellowish white flowers in their axils.
- 2A crown of laurel.
- 3Honor, distinction, fame.
- 4Any plant of the family Lauraceae.
- 5Any of various plants of other families that resemble laurels.
- 6An English gold coin made in 1619, and so called because the king's head on it was crowned with laurel.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English laurer, laurel, from Anglo-Norman lorer, from Old French lorier, from Vulgar Latin *laurārius, from Latin laurus (“laurel”). Doublet of loureiro.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alurel,laruel,lauerl,laurell,laurle,laurrel,llaurel,luarel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of laurel - 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
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Using “laurel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-U-R-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɒɹ.əl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “lure” - see the side-by-side comparison. laurel vs lure
- 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.