nail

/neɪl/

//neɪl// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"nail" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nail” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5,064) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#5,064
frequency rank, English
1,534
“N” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.

Corpus desk

Index EN-nail · nail · English

nail · rank #5,064 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,064
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,534
  • PHOTO-FINISH NASA

Nearest frequency peer: NASA (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “nail”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “nail” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

nail vs ni
50% similar
nail vs NL
0% similar
nail vs NFL
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for nail
PropertyValue
Headwordnail
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/neɪl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,064
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “nail” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).nail lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for nail is neighbouring look-alikes ("ni", "NL", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /neɪl/. Frequency #5,064 among 1,534 “N” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for nail, with forms such as "naill", "nali", and "nial". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ni", "NL", "NFL", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- (“nail”). Cognates Compare North Frisian Nail (“nail”), Saterland Frisian Nail (“nail”), West Frisian neil, Low … The correct English form is nail, spelled N-A-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
  2. 2
    The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
  3. 3
    The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
  4. 4
    The claw of a bird or other animal.
  5. 5
    A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction.
  6. 6
    A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
  7. 7
    An archaic English unit of length equivalent to ¹⁄₂₀ of an ell or ¹⁄₁₆ of a yard (2+¹⁄₄ inches or 5.715 cm).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how nail appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. When I'm nervous I bite my nails.
  2. Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

Etymology

From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- (“nail”). Cognates Compare North Frisian Nail (“nail”), Saterland Frisian Nail (“nail”), West Frisian neil, Low German Nagel, Dutch nagel, German Nagel, Danish negl, Swedish nagel, Finnish naula (“nail”), Estonian nael (“nail”), (compare Irish ionga, Latin unguis, Albanian nyell (“ankle, hard part of a limb”), Lithuanian nagas, Russian нога́ (nogá, “foot, leg”), но́готь (nógotʹ, “nail”), Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux), Persian ناخن (nâxon), Sanskrit नख (nakhá).

This word in other languages

uña(Español)ongle(Français)Nagel(Deutsch)prego(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • naill
  • nali
  • nial
  • nnail

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nail - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

naill1nali2nial2nnail1
Edit distance from "nail"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nail"?
"nail" is spelled N-A-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is /neɪl/.
What does "nail" mean?
As a noun, "nail" means: The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
What words are commonly confused with "nail"?
"nail" is commonly confused with "ni", "NL", "NFL". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nail"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nail" is /neɪl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "nail"?
From Middle English nail, nayl, Old English næġl, from Proto-West Germanic *nagl, from Proto-Germanic *naglaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- (“nail”). Cognates Compare North Frisian Nail (“nail”), Saterland Frisian Nail (“nail”), West Frisian ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nail", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

NASA#5,065lied#5,059owns#5,071Jose#5,056

What to do next

You've looked up "nail". Here's where to go from here.

  • "nail" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "ni". View pair
  • 4 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #5,064 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "N" letter cohort. N–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list