paddle
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "paddle", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "paddle" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "paddle" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
paddle is aEnglishnoun. It means: A two-handed implement consisting of a shaft with one or two blades attached to the end(s) used to propel a canoe, kayak or a small boat. A paddle is unattached to the boat and freely operated with... Pronounced /ˈpædl̩/. Often confused with pale and paddy.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | paddle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpædl̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #15,239 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for paddle is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpædl̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,239 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 19 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for paddle, with forms such as "apddle", "paddel", and "paddlle". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "pale", "paddy", "padre", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Partly from the verb paddle ("to splash, dabble"; see below) and partly from Middle English padell (“small spade”). Middle English padell is from Medieval Latin padela, itself of uncertain origin: perhaps an alteration of Middle English *spaddle (see also s… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is paddle, spelled P-A-D-D-L-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A two-handed implement consisting of a shaft with one or two blades attached to the end(s) used to propel a canoe, kayak or a small boat. A paddle is unattached to the boat and freely operated with the hands, compared with an oar which is attached to the boat at a pivot point.
- 2A two-handed implement consisting of a shaft with one or two blades attached to the end(s) used to propel a canoe, kayak or a small boat. A paddle is unattached to the boat and freely operated with the hands, compared with an oar which is attached to the boat at a pivot point.
- 3The use of a paddle to propel a boat; a session of paddling.
- 4A slat of a paddleboat's wheel.
- 5A paddlewheel.
- 6A blade of a waterwheel.
- 7A game controller with a round wheel used to control player movement along one axis of the video screen.
- 8A meandering walk or dabble through shallow water, especially at the seaside.
- 9A kitchen utensil shaped like a paddle and used for mixing, beating etc.
- 10A broad, flat spanking implement.
- 11A broad, flat device used in striking the ball, analogous to a racket in tennis.
- 12A flat board with a number of holes or indentations, used to carry small alcoholic drinks such as shots.
- 13A flat limb of an aquatic animal, adapted for swimming.
- 14In a sluice, a panel that controls the flow of water.
- 15A handheld electrode used for defibrillation or cardioversion.
- 16A flipper in a pinball machine.
- 17A person's hand.
- 18A flap of attached skin that has been cut away from a wound.
- 19Alternative form of padel.
Etymology
Partly from the verb paddle ("to splash, dabble"; see below) and partly from Middle English padell (“small spade”). Middle English padell is from Medieval Latin padela, itself of uncertain origin: perhaps an alteration of Middle English *spaddle (see also spaddle), a diminutive of spade; or from Latin patella (“pan, plate”), the diminutive of patina, or a merger of the two. Compare Ancient Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder, steering oar”), derived from πηδόν (pēdón, “the blade of an oar; an oar”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: apddle,paddel,paddlle,padlde,padle,pdadle,ppaddle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for paddle
Misspelling Variants of "paddle"
Frequency rank: #15,239 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index: