phenyl
/ˈfiː.naɪl/
"phenyl" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“phenyl” is uncommon English (frequency #56,361 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,361
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A univalent hydrocarbon radical, C₆H₅ (benzene minus one hydrogen atom), and the basis of an immense number of aromatic derivatives.
Corpus desk
Index EN-phenyl · phenyl · English
phenyl · rank #56,361 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #56,361
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 46,516
- PHOTO-FINISH philological
Nearest frequency peer: philological (+1 rank slots)
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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “phenyl”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- percussioni…
percussionist
43,645 corpus weight
- perfunctory
perfunctory
43,644 corpus weight
- phenyl
phenyl
43,640 corpus weight
- philological
philological
43,639 corpus weight
- photojourna…
photojournalism
43,638 corpus weight
- Pilbara
Pilbara
43,636 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “phenyl” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | phenyl |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfiː.naɪl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #56,361 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “phenyl” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
phenyl is uncommon English at frequency #56,361 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfiː.naɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A univalent hydrocarbon radical, C₆H₅ (benzene minus one hydrogen atom), and the basis of an immense number of aromatic derivatives.".
Zero misspellings are on record for phenyl in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French phényle, derived from the root of Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō, “to shine”) plus ὕλη (húlē, “wood; material, substance”). Equivalent to phen- + -yl. The correct English form is phenyl, spelled P-H-E-N-Y-L.
Definition
- 1A univalent hydrocarbon radical, C₆H₅ (benzene minus one hydrogen atom), and the basis of an immense number of aromatic derivatives.
Etymology
Borrowed from French phényle, derived from the root of Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō, “to shine”) plus ὕλη (húlē, “wood; material, substance”). Equivalent to phen- + -yl.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "phenyl", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency 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.