# pillow

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɪl.əʊ/ · frequency rank #7,592

## Definitions
1. A soft cushion used to support the head in bed.
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. A pillow lava.
4. A piece of metal or wood, forming a support to equalize pressure; a brass; a pillow block.
5. A block under the inner end of a bowsprit.
6. The socket of a pivot.
7. A kind of plain, coarse fustian.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **plow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pillow-vs-plow)
- **pilot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pillow-vs-pilot)
- **pills** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pillow-vs-pills)
- **pill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pill-vs-pillow)
- **pillar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pillar-vs-pillow)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ipllow`, `pilloww`, `pillwo`, `pilolw`, `pilow`, `plilow`, `ppillow`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pillow