pilaf
/pɪlɐːf/
"pilaf" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pilaf” is uncommon English (frequency #78,022 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #78,022
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A dish made by browning grain, typically rice, in oil and then cooking it with a seasoned broth, to which meat and/or vegetables may be added.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pilaf · pilaf · English
pilaf · rank #78,022 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #78,022
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 46,516
- PHOTO-FINISH pils
Nearest frequency peer: pils (+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 “pilaf”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- phagocytosis
phagocytosis
21,984 corpus weight
- pilaf
pilaf
21,979 corpus weight
- pils
pils
21,978 corpus weight
- pinnate
pinnate
21,977 corpus weight
- pitter
pitter
21,976 corpus weight
- platitude
platitude
21,975 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “pilaf” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pilaf |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɪlɐːf/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #78,022 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pilaf” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
pilaf is uncommon English at frequency #78,022 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /pɪlɐːf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A dish made by browning grain, typically rice, in oil and then cooking it with a seasoned broth, to which meat and/or vegetables may be added.".
pilaf has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ottoman Turkish پلاو (modern Turkish pilav), from Classical Persian پلاو (pilāw), from Hindi पुलाव (pulāv)/Urdu پُلاؤ (pulāo), from Sanskrit पुलाक (pulāka), which is probably of Dravidian origin. Akin to Tamil புழுக்கு (puḻukku, “cooked rice”). The correct English form is pilaf, spelled P-I-L-A-F.
Definition
- 1A dish made by browning grain, typically rice, in oil and then cooking it with a seasoned broth, to which meat and/or vegetables may be added.
Etymology
From Ottoman Turkish پلاو (modern Turkish pilav), from Classical Persian پلاو (pilāw), from Hindi पुलाव (pulāv)/Urdu پُلاؤ (pulāo), from Sanskrit पुलाक (pulāka), which is probably of Dravidian origin. Akin to Tamil புழுக்கு (puḻukku, “cooked rice”).
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.
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 "pilaf", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 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.