poll

/pɔl/

//pɔl// noun

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

"poll" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“poll” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3,969) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#3,969
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.

Corpus desk

Index EN-poll · poll · English

poll · rank #3,969 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,969
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH painted

Nearest frequency peer: painted (-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 “poll”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “poll” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

poll vs pop
50% similar
poll vs pot
50% similar
poll vs pos
50% similar

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

Key facts for poll
PropertyValue
Headwordpoll
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɔl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,969
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “poll” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for poll is neighbouring look-alikes ("pop", "pot", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /pɔl/. Frequency #3,969 among 4,417 “P” headwords. 8 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for poll, with forms such as "opll", "plol", and "ppoll". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pop", "pot", "pos", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), from or cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (“top, summit; head”), from Proto-West Germanic *poll, from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“round object, head, top”), from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *bōwl- (“orb… The correct English form is poll, spelled P-O-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.
  2. 2
    A formal vote held in order to ascertain the most popular choice.
  3. 3
    A polling place (usually as plural, polling places)
  4. 4
    The result of the voting, the total number of votes recorded.
  5. 5
    The head, particularly the scalp or pate upon which hair (normally) grows.
  6. 6
    A mass of people, a mob or muster, considered as a head count.
  7. 7
    The broad or butt end of an axe or a hammer.
  8. 8
    The pollard or European chub, a kind of fish.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The student council had a poll to see what people want served in the cafeteria.
  2. All soldiers quartered in place are to remove […] and not to return till one day after the poll is ended.

Etymology

From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), from or cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (“top, summit; head”), from Proto-West Germanic *poll, from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“round object, head, top”), from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *bōwl- (“orb, round object, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Akin to Scots pow (“head, crown, scalp, skull”), Saterland Frisian pol (“round, full, brimming”, adjective), German Low German Polle, Poll (“round object, ball”), German Low German Poller (“head, tree-top, bulb”), Danish puld (“crown of a hat”), Swedish dialectal pull (“head”). Meaning "collection of votes" is first recorded 1625, from the notion of "counting heads".

This word in other languages

encuesta(Español)sondage(Français)Umfrage(Deutsch)sondagem(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • opll
  • plol
  • ppoll

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of poll - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

opll2plol2ppoll1
Edit distance from "poll"

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 September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "poll"?
"poll" is spelled P-O-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /pɔl/.
What does "poll" mean?
As a noun, "poll" means: A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.
What words are commonly confused with "poll"?
"poll" is commonly confused with "pop", "pot", "pos". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "poll"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "poll" is /pɔl/. 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 "poll"?
From Middle English pol, polle ("scalp, pate"), from or cognate with Middle Dutch pol, pōle, polle (“top, summit; head”), from Proto-West Germanic *poll, from Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“round object, head, top”), from Proto-Indo-European *bolno-, *b... 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 "poll", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lips#3,958sept#3,981Josh#3,955tear#3,985

What to do next

You've looked up "poll". Here's where to go from here.

  • "poll" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "pop". View pair
  • 3 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #3,969 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list