pelf
/pɛlf/
"pelf" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pelf” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Money, riches; gain, especially when dishonestly acquired; lucre, mammon.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pelf · pelf · English
pelf · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pelf |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɛlf/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pelf” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pelf is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pɛlf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for pelf in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English pelf, pelfe (“stolen goods, booty, spoil; forfeited property; money, riches; property; valuable object”), possibly from Anglo-Norman pelf (a variant of pelfre (“booty, loot”)) and Old French peufre (“frippery; rubbish”); further ety… The correct English form is pelf, spelled P-E-L-F.
Definition
- 1Money, riches; gain, especially when dishonestly acquired; lucre, mammon.
- 2Rubbish, trash; specifically (British, dialectal) refuse from plants.
- 3Dust; fluff.
- 4A contemptible or useless person.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pelf appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Raph. Sirra Hammon Hammon, dost thou thinke a shooe-maker is so base, to be a bawd to his own wife for cõmodity! take thy gold, choake with it: were I not lame, I would make thee eate thy words. Firke. A shoomaker sell his flesh and blood, oh indignitie! Hodg. Sirra, take up your pelfe, and be packing.
For what greater folly can there be, or madneſſe, then to […] keepe backe from his wife and children, neither letting them, nor other friends uſe or enjoy that which is theirs by right, and which they much need perhaps; like a hog, or dog in the manger, he doth onely keep it, becauſe it ſhall doe no body elſe good, hurting himſelfe and others; and for a l…
Etymology
From Late Middle English pelf, pelfe (“stolen goods, booty, spoil; forfeited property; money, riches; property; valuable object”), possibly from Anglo-Norman pelf (a variant of pelfre (“booty, loot”)) and Old French peufre (“frippery; rubbish”); further etymology uncertain, possibly a metathesis of Old French felpe, ferpe, frepe (“a rag”). The English word is perhaps related to Late Latin pelfa, pelfra, pelfrum (“forfeited or stolen goods”), Middle French peuffe and French peufe, peuffe (“old clothes; rubbish”) (Normandy), and pilfer.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.