pillow

/ˈpɪl.əʊ/

//ˈpɪl.əʊ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"pillow" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pillow” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,592. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,592
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A soft cushion used to support the head in bed.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pillow · pillow · English

pillow · rank #7,592 · 7 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,592
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pee

Nearest frequency peer: pee (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “pillow”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “pillow” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pillow vs plow
67% similar
pillow vs pilot
67% similar
pillow vs pills
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for pillow
PropertyValue
Headwordpillow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpɪl.əʊ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#7,592
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “pillow”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).pillowlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “pee” (#7,591), “pirate” (#7,593), “polar” (#7,594). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pillow” is #7,592. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around pillow (IPA /ˈpɪl.əʊ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,592 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for pillow, with forms such as "ipllow", "pilloww", and "pillwo". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "plow", "pilot", "pills", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pilwe, from Old English pyle, pylu (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *pulwī (“pillow”), from Latin pulvīnus (“cushion”), derived from pulvis (“dust, powder”) + -īnus (“-ine”), for the filler of a pillow. Doublet of pulvinus. Cognate w… The correct English form is pillow, spelled P-I-L-L-O-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    A soft cushion used to support the head in bed.
  2. 2
    Any similar head support used for sleep, such as a neck pillow or a hard porcelain pillow. Example: She slept with her head on the pillow.
  3. 3
    A pillow lava.
  4. 4
    A piece of metal or wood, forming a support to equalize pressure; a brass; a pillow block.
  5. 5
    A block under the inner end of a bowsprit.
  6. 6
    The socket of a pivot.
  7. 7
    A kind of plain, coarse fustian.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how pillow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The appearance of the entire tomb is as if the warrior had seen the vision of Christ in his dying moments, and had fallen back peacefully upon his pillow, with his eyes still turned to it, and his hands clasped in prayer.

Etymology

From Middle English pilwe, from Old English pyle, pylu (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *pulwī (“pillow”), from Latin pulvīnus (“cushion”), derived from pulvis (“dust, powder”) + -īnus (“-ine”), for the filler of a pillow. Doublet of pulvinus. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Peel (“pillow”), Alemannic German Pfulme (“pillow”), Dutch peluw (“a long, narrow pillow”), German Pfühl (“a big and soft pillow”), German Low German Pöhl (“pad, pillow, cushion”).

This word in other languages

almohada(Español)oreiller(Français)Kopfkissen(Deutsch)travesseiro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ipllow
  • pilloww
  • pillwo
  • pilolw
  • pilow
  • plilow
  • ppillow

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pillow - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ipllow2pilloww1pillwo2pilolw2pilow1plilow2ppillow1
Edit distance from "pillow"

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 "pillow"?
"pillow" is spelled P-I-L-L-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɪl.əʊ/.
What does "pillow" mean?
As a noun, "pillow" means: A soft cushion used to support the head in bed.
What words are commonly confused with "pillow"?
"pillow" is commonly confused with "plow", "pilot", "pills". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pillow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pillow" is /ˈpɪl.əʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "pillow"?
From Middle English pilwe, from Old English pyle, pylu (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *pulwī (“pillow”), from Latin pulvīnus (“cushion”), derived from pulvis (“dust, powder”) + -īnus (“-ine”), for the filler of a pillow. Doublet of pulvinus.... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pillow", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pirate#7,593Mumbai#7,585puzzle#7,599Monica#7,584

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

polar7 variantsrapper7 variantsspike7 variantsJanet7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list