relish
/ˈɹɛlɪʃ/
"relish" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“relish” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,188 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #19,188
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Flavour or taste; (countable) an instance of this.
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 | relish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɛlɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #19,188 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “relish” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for relish is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɛlɪʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,188 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for relish, with forms such as "erlish", "reilsh", and "relihs". 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, "Revis", "resist", "revise", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is a variant of release (“(obsolete) odour, scent”), from Middle English reles, relese (“odour, scent; taste; efficacy, power”), probably from Anglo-Norman reles, relais, or Old French reles, relais (“that which is left behind, remainder, residue”)… The correct English form is relish, spelled R-E-L-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1Flavour or taste; (countable) an instance of this.
- 2Followed by for: one's liking or taste for something; a fondness.
- 3A small amount; a tinge, a trace.
- 4Ability to taste or (figurative) enjoy.
- 5Particular quality; (countable) an instance of this; a characteristic or quality.
- 6Enjoyment of flavour or taste; (countable) an instance of this.
- 7Enjoyment of something pleasant; (countable) an instance of this.
- 8Appetizing or pleasant flavour or taste; (countable) an instance of this.
- 9Pleasant quality; (countable) an instance of this.
- 10A savoury dish or course of dishes, especially one accompanying rather than forming the main part of a meal; an appetizer, a side dish.
- 11A savoury dish or course of dishes, especially one accompanying rather than forming the main part of a meal; an appetizer, a side dish.
- 12A condiment or sauce added to food for a spicy or tangy flavour; specifically, one made with chopped, pickled fruit or vegetables.
Etymology
The noun is a variant of release (“(obsolete) odour, scent”), from Middle English reles, relese (“odour, scent; taste; efficacy, power”), probably from Anglo-Norman reles, relais, or Old French reles, relais (“that which is left behind, remainder, residue”), from relaisser, relaschier (“to liberate, release; to relax”) (modern French relâcher), from Latin relaxāre, the present active infinitive of relaxō (“to stretch out or widen again, loosen, slacken; (figurative) to ease, relax”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backwards’) + laxō (“to release, undo; to relax”) (from laxus (“spacious, wide; loose, slack”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg- (“to slacken; to tire out”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)). Doublet of release. The verb is derived from the noun.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erlish,reilsh,relihs,relishh,relissh,rellish,relsih,rleish,rrelish
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of relish - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "relish"?
What does "relish" mean?
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Using “relish”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-L-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɛlɪʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Revis” - see the side-by-side comparison. relish vs Revis
- 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.