pylon

/ˈpaɪ.lɒn/

//ˈpaɪ.lɒn// noun

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

"pylon" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pylon” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #43,325. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#43,325
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pylon · pylon · English

pylon · rank #43,325 · 8 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #43,325
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Pyeongchang

Nearest frequency peer: Pyeongchang (-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 “pylon”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “pylon” 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).

pylon vs Python
50% similar
pylon vs pon
60% similar
pylon vs plan
60% similar

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

Key facts for pylon
PropertyValue
Headwordpylon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpaɪ.lɒn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#43,325
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “pylon”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).pylonlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Pyeongchang” (#43,324), “quip” (#43,327), “Rayburn” (#43,329). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pylon” is #43,325. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around pylon (IPA /ˈpaɪ.lɒn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #43,325 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for pylon, with forms such as "plyon", "ppylon", and "pyllon". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "Python", "pon", "plan", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πυλών (pulṓn, “gateway”). The correct English form is pylon, spelled P-Y-L-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple.
  2. 2
    A tower-like structure, usually one of a series, used to support high-voltage electricity cables.
  3. 3
    A tall steel or concrete tower from which cables are strung.
  4. 4
    A lighting mast; a freestanding support for floodlights.
  5. 5
    A structure used to mount engines, missiles etc., to the underside of an aircraft wing or fuselage.
  6. 6
    A starting derrick for an aeroplane.
  7. 7
    A post, tower, etc. as on an aerodrome, or flying ground, serving to bound or mark a prescribed course of flight.
  8. 8
    An obelisk.
  9. 9
    A traffic cone.
  10. 10
    An orange marker designating one of the four corners of the end zone in American football.
  11. 11
    An ineffective, useless player.
  12. 12
    A rigid prosthesis for the lower leg.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.
  2. After two pylonless months, July's pylon comes all the way from the hills outside Wellington, New Zealand.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πυλών (pulṓn, “gateway”).

This word in other languages

torre(Español)pylône(Français)Pylon(Deutsch)torre(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • plyon
  • ppylon
  • pyllon
  • pylno
  • pylonn
  • pyoln
  • pyylon
  • yplon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pylon - 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.

plyon2ppylon1pyllon1pylno2pylonn1pyoln2pyylon1yplon2
Edit distance from "pylon"

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 "pylon"?
"pylon" is spelled P-Y-L-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpaɪ.lɒn/.
What does "pylon" mean?
As a noun, "pylon" means: A gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple.
What words are commonly confused with "pylon"?
"pylon" is commonly confused with "Python", "pon", "plan". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pylon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pylon" is /ˈpaɪ.lɒn/. 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 "pylon"?
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πυλών (pulṓn, “gateway”). 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 "pylon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

poser#43,318porky#43,317refit#43,334roomy#43,352

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Recife8 variantspenile8 variantsrigour8 variantsRomani8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list