paling
/ˈpeɪlɪŋ/
"paling" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paling” is uncommon English (frequency #77,066 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #77,066
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - present participle and gerund of pale
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | paling |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈpeɪlɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #77,066 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “paling” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
paling is uncommon English at frequency #77,066 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈpeɪlɪŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "present participle and gerund of pale".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for paling, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pale + -ing. The correct English form is paling, spelled P-A-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1present participle and gerund of pale
Etymology
From pale + -ing.
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
How do you spell "paling"?
What does "paling" mean?
How do you pronounce "paling"?
What is the origin of the word "paling"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “paling”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-L-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpeɪlɪŋ/ (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.