parable
/ˈpaɹəbəl/
"parable" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“parable” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,515 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,515
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A short narrative illustrating a lesson (usually religious/moral) by comparison or analogy.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | parable |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpaɹəbəl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #25,515 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “parable” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for parable is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpaɹəbəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,515 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A short narrative illustrating a lesson (usually religious/moral) by comparison or analogy.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for parable, with forms such as "aprable", "paarble", and "parabble". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "parade", "parole", "payable", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English parable, from Old French parable, parabole, from Late Latin parabola, from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ, “comparison”). Doublet of parabola, parole, and palaver. The correct English form is parable, spelled P-A-R-A-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1A short narrative illustrating a lesson (usually religious/moral) by comparison or analogy.
Etymology
From Middle English parable, from Old French parable, parabole, from Late Latin parabola, from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ, “comparison”). Doublet of parabola, parole, and palaver.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aprable,paarble,parabble,parabel,parablle,paralbe,parbale,parible,parrable,pparable,praable
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of parable - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “parable”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-R-A-B-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpaɹəbəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “parade” - see the side-by-side comparison. parable vs parade
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.