English Word Reference Free

panel

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "panel", 5-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 "panel" 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 "panel" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

panel is aEnglishnoun. It means: A (usually) rectangular section of a surface, or of a covering or of a wall, fence etc. Pronounced /ˈpænəl/. It ranks #2,749 in English word frequency. Often confused with Paul and pine.

Key facts for panel
PropertyValue
Headwordpanel
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpænəl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,749
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of panel in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for panel is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpænəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,749 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 20 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 panel, with forms such as "apnel", "paenl", and "panell". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Paul", "pine", "peel", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English panel (“piece of cloth, saddle pad, pane of glass, piece of ice, part, division, jury list, jury members”), from Anglo-Norman panel, panelle (“piece of cloth, saddle cushion”), from Vulgar Latin *pannellus, diminutive of Latin pannus (“c… 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 panel, spelled P-A-N-E-L, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A (usually) rectangular section of a surface, or of a covering or of a wall, fence etc.
  2. 2
    A (usually) rectangular section of a surface, or of a covering or of a wall, fence etc.
  3. 3
    A group of people gathered to judge, interview, discuss etc. as on a television or radio broadcast for example.
  4. 4
    A portion of text or other material within a book, newspaper, web page, etc. set apart from the main body or separated by a border.
  5. 5
    An individual frame or drawing in a comic.
  6. 6
    A type of GUI widget, such as a control panel.
  7. 7
    A document containing the names of persons summoned as jurors by the sheriff.
  8. 8
    The whole jury.
  9. 9
    A prisoner arraigned for trial at the bar of a criminal court.
  10. 10
    A piece of cloth serving as a saddle.
  11. 11
    A soft pad beneath a saddletree to prevent chafing.
  12. 12
    A board having its edges inserted in the groove of a surrounding frame.
  13. 13
    One of the faces of a hewn stone.
  14. 14
    A slab or plank of wood used instead of a canvas for painting on.
  15. 15
    A heap of dressed ore.
  16. 16
    One of the districts divided by pillars of extra size, into which a mine is laid off in one system of extracting coal.
  17. 17
    A plain strip or band, as of velvet or plush, placed at intervals lengthwise on the skirt of a dress, for ornament.
  18. 18
    A portion of a framed structure between adjacent posts or struts, as in a bridge truss.
  19. 19
    A list of doctors who could provide limited free healthcare prior to the introduction of the NHS.
  20. 20
    A group of tests or assays, a battery.

Etymology

From Middle English panel (“piece of cloth, saddle pad, pane of glass, piece of ice, part, division, jury list, jury members”), from Anglo-Norman panel, panelle (“piece of cloth, saddle cushion”), from Vulgar Latin *pannellus, diminutive of Latin pannus (“cloth, rag, garment”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂n- (“fabric”). Cognate with Old English fana (“a piece of cloth, patch, banner, flag, vane”). Doublet of vane.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: apnel,paenl,panell,panle,pannel,pnael,ppanel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for panel

Misspelling Variants of "panel"

apnel5paenl5panell6panle5pannel6pnael5ppanel6
Misspelling Variants of "panel"

Frequency rank: #2,749 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "panel"?
"panel" is spelled P-A-N-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpænəl/.
What does "panel" mean?
As a noun, "panel" means: A (usually) rectangular section of a surface, or of a covering or of a wall, fence etc.
What words are commonly confused with "panel"?
"panel" is commonly confused with "Paul", "pine", "peel". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "panel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "panel" is /ˈpænəl/. 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 "panel"?
From Middle English panel (“piece of cloth, saddle pad, pane of glass, piece of ice, part, division, jury list, jury members”), from Anglo-Norman panel, panelle (“piece of cloth, saddle cushion”), from Vulgar Latin *pannellus, diminutive of Latin ... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter P in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.