orl
/ɔːl/
"orl" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“orl” is uncommon English (frequency #78,901 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #78,901
- frequency rank, English
- 15,494
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An alder tree.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | orl |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɔːl/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #78,901 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “orl” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
orl is uncommon English at frequency #78,901 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɔːl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for orl, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Metathetic variant of olr, itself a variant of alr, itself a contraction of aller, itself a form of alder closer to the original Old English form of alor, aler (the d was a phonetic addition in Middle English); compare the English oryelle, as well as the Ol… The correct English form is orl, spelled O-R-L.
Definition
- 1An alder tree.
- 2orl fly
Etymology
Metathetic variant of olr, itself a variant of alr, itself a contraction of aller, itself a form of alder closer to the original Old English form of alor, aler (the d was a phonetic addition in Middle English); compare the English oryelle, as well as the Old High German erila, the Middle High German erle, and the Modern German Erle.
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 “orl”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-R-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɔːl/ (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.