# pole

> English word · Noun · IPA /pəʊl/ · frequency rank #4,879

## Definitions
1. Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes.
2. A construction by which an animal is harnessed to a carriage.
3. A type of basic fishing rod.
4. A long sports implement used for pole-vaulting; now made of glassfiber or carbon fiber, formerly also metal, bamboo and wood have been used.
5. A telescope used to identify birds, aeroplanes or wildlife.
6. A unit of length, equal to a rod (¹⁄₄ chain or 5+¹⁄₂ yards).
7. A pole position.
8. A rifle.
9. A penis.
10. A wicket, especially in the context of the number of wickets taken by a particular bowler.

## Etymology
From Middle English pole, pal, from Old English pāl (“a pole, stake, post; a kind of hoe or spade”), from Proto-West Germanic *pāl (“pole”), from Latin pālus (“stake, pale, prop, stay”), perhaps from Old Latin *paxlos, from Proto-Italic *pākslos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ǵ- (“to nail, fasten”). Doublet of peel, pale, and palus.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots pale, paill (“stake, pale”), North Frisian pul, pil (“stake, pale”), Saterland Frisian Pool (“pole”), West Frisian poal (“pole”), Dutch paal (“pole”), German Pfahl (“pile, stake, post, pole”), Danish pæl (“pole”), Swedish påle (“pole”), Icelandic páll (“hoe, spade, pale”), Old English fæc (“space of time, while, division, interval; lustrum”).

## Easily confused with
- **pop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pop)
- **pot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pot)
- **pos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pos)
- **ppl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-ppl)
- **poo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-poo)
- **POW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pow)
- **POV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pov)
- **pom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pom)
- **pox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pox)
- **pon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pon)
- **PPE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-ppe)
- **PSL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-psl)
- **pye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pye)
- **post** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-post)
- **poor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-poor)
- **pull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pull)
- **port** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-port)
- **pool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pool)
- **pure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-pure)
- **porn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pole-vs-porn)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ople`, `ploe`, `poel`, `polle`, `ppole`

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