nihil
/ˈnɪ.hɪl/
"nihil" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nihil” is uncommon English (frequency #76,162 among 1,534 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #76,162
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A nihil dicit.
Corpus desk
Index EN-nihil · nihil · English
nihil · rank #76,162 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #76,162
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH Niigata
Nearest frequency peer: Niigata (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “nihil”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- neatness
neatness
23,847 corpus weight
- nihil
nihil
23,839 corpus weight
- Niigata
Niigata
23,838 corpus weight
- Niobe
Niobe
23,837 corpus weight
- nosh
nosh
23,831 corpus weight
- Novy
Novy
23,830 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “nihil” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nihil |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnɪ.hɪl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #76,162 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “nihil” in English
Rare enough to double-check
nihil is uncommon English at frequency #76,162 among 1,534 “N” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈnɪ.hɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for nihil, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin nihil, nil. The correct English form is nihil, spelled N-I-H-I-L.
Definition
- 1A nihil dicit.
- 2nothingness, nonbeing
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nihil appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I shall no longer believe all the visions of my youth: They have dissolved into nihil.
All tales about the beginning are apt to eliminate the nothing and make being overall. […] Without Nihil the whirlpool of the beginning settles down and becomes a stagnant puddle of pure being. Nihil disappears.
Etymology
From Latin nihil, nil.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nihil", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).