quill
/kwɪl/
"quill" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“quill” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,182 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,182
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | quill |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kwɪl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #25,182 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “quill” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for quill is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kwɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,182 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for quill, with forms such as "qiull", "qquill", and "quil". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "quit", "quiz", "quip", 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 late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to … The correct English form is quill, spelled Q-U-I-L-L.
Definition
- 1The lower shaft of a feather, specifically the region lacking barbs.
- 2A pen made from a feather.
- 3Any pen.
- 4A sharply pointed, barbed, and easily detached needle-like structure that grows on the skin of a porcupine or hedgehog as a defense against predators.
- 5A thin piece of bark, especially of cinnamon or cinchona, curled up into a tube.
- 6The pen of a squid.
- 7The plectrum with which musicians strike the strings of certain instruments.
- 8The tube of a musical instrument.
- 9Something having the form of a quill, such as the fold or plain of a ruff, or (weaving) a spindle, or spool, upon which the thread for the woof is wound in a shuttle.
- 10A quill drive, having a hollow shaft with another movable shaft inside it.
Etymology
From late Middle English quyl, which is first attested in the early 15th century with the meanings "fragment of reed" and "shaft of a feather", probably from Low German and Middle Low German quiele, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce, stick”). Compare Middle High German kil (“large feather, quill”), which is derived from the Low German term.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: qiull,qquill,quil,qulil,uqill
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of quill - 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.
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
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Using “quill”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is Q-U-I-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kwɪl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “quit” - see the side-by-side comparison. quill vs quit
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.