pillion
/ˈpɪljən/
"pillion" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pillion” is uncommon English (frequency #82,669 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #82,669
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A pad behind the saddle of a horse for a second rider.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pillion · pillion · English
pillion · rank #82,669 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #82,669
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH pillory
Nearest frequency peer: pillory (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “pillion”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- physiograph…
physiographic
17,337 corpus weight
- pickpocketi…
pickpocketing
17,335 corpus weight
- piecewise
piecewise
17,334 corpus weight
- pillion
pillion
17,332 corpus weight
- pillory
pillory
17,331 corpus weight
- plage
plage
17,329 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “pillion” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pillion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɪljən/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #82,669 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pillion” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pillion is uncommon English at frequency #82,669 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɪljən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
pillion has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scottish Gaelic pillean (“little rug”), from Latin pellis (“animal skin, pelt”). The correct English form is pillion, spelled P-I-L-L-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A pad behind the saddle of a horse for a second rider.
- 2A similar second saddle on a motorcycle for a passenger.
- 3The person riding in the pillion.
- 4The cushion of a saddle.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how pillion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It was all the greater triumph to Miss Nancy Lammeter's beauty that she looked thoroughly bewitching in that costume, as, seated on the pillion behind her tall, erect father, she held one arm round him, and looked down, with open-eyed anxiety, at the treacherous snow-covered pools and puddles, which sent up formidable splashings of mud under the stamp of…
Etymology
From Scottish Gaelic pillean (“little rug”), from Latin pellis (“animal skin, pelt”).
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
How do you spell "pillion"?
What does "pillion" mean?
How do you pronounce "pillion"?
What is the origin of the word "pillion"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pillion", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).