petiole
/ˈpɛti.əʊl/
"petiole" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“petiole” is uncommon English (frequency #55,014 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,014
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | petiole |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɛti.əʊl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #55,014 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “petiole” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
petiole is uncommon English at frequency #55,014 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɛti.əʊl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for petiole, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French pétiole, and its source, Late Latin petiolus (“little foot”), diminutive form of Latin pēs (“foot”). The correct English form is petiole, spelled P-E-T-I-O-L-E.
Definition
- 1The stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem.
- 2A narrow or constricted segment of the body of an insect; especially, the metasomal segment of certain Hymenoptera, such as wasps.
- 3The stalk at the base of the nest of the paper wasp.
Etymology
Borrowed from French pétiole, and its source, Late Latin petiolus (“little foot”), diminutive form of Latin pēs (“foot”).
This word in other languages
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 “petiole”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-T-I-O-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɛti.əʊl/ (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.