English Word Reference Free

parlor

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

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

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

parlor is aEnglishnoun. It means: The living room of a house, or a room for entertaining guests; a room for talking; a sitting-room or drawing room. Pronounced /ˈpɑːlə/. Often confused with parr and prior.

Key facts for parlor
PropertyValue
Headwordparlor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɑːlə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#18,646
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for parlor is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɑːlə/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,646 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for parlor, with forms such as "aprlor", "palror", and "parllor". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "parr", "prior", "Pryor", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English parlour, from Old French parleor, parloir, parleoir, from the verb parler (“to speak”); compare Medieval Latin parlātōrium. Doublet of parloir. 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 parlor, spelled P-A-R-L-O-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The living room of a house, or a room for entertaining guests; a room for talking; a sitting-room or drawing room.
  2. 2
    The apartment in a monastery or nunnery where the residents are permitted to meet and converse with each other or with visitors from the outside.
  3. 3
    A comfortable room in a public house.
  4. 4
    A covered open-air patio.
  5. 5
    A shop or other business selling goods or services specified by context.
  6. 6
    A shop or other business selling goods or services specified by context.
  7. 7
    A shed used for milking cattle; a milking parlor.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English parlour, from Old French parleor, parloir, parleoir, from the verb parler (“to speak”); compare Medieval Latin parlātōrium. Doublet of parloir.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aprlor,palror,parllor,parlorr,parlro,parolr,parrlor,pparlor,pralor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for parlor

Misspelling Variants of "parlor"

aprlor6palror6parllor7parlorr7parlro6parolr6parrlor7pparlor7
Misspelling Variants of "parlor"

Frequency rank: #18,646 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "parlor"?
"parlor" is spelled P-A-R-L-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɑːlə/.
What does "parlor" mean?
As a noun, "parlor" means: The living room of a house, or a room for entertaining guests; a room for talking; a sitting-room or drawing room.
What words are commonly confused with "parlor"?
"parlor" is commonly confused with "parr", "prior", "Pryor". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "parlor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "parlor" is /ˈpɑːlə/. 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 "parlor"?
Inherited from Middle English parlour, from Old French parleor, parloir, parleoir, from the verb parler (“to speak”); compare Medieval Latin parlātōrium. Doublet of parloir. 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.