sailor

/ˈseɪ.lɚ/

//ˈseɪ.lɚ// noun

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

"sailor" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sailor” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,953. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,953
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sailor · sailor · English

sailor · rank #9,953 · 8 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,953
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Romania

Nearest frequency peer: Romania (-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 “sailor”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “sailor” 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).

sailor vs silo
67% similar
sailor vs salon
67% similar
sailor vs sails
67% similar

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

Key facts for sailor
PropertyValue
Headwordsailor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈseɪ.lɚ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#9,953
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sailor”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Romania” (#9,952), “seventy” (#9,954), “retaining” (#9,951). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sailor” is #9,953. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around sailor (IPA /ˈseɪ.lɚ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,953 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for sailor, with forms such as "asilor", "saillor", and "sailorr". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "silo", "salon", "sails", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration of earlier sailer, from Middle English sailer, sayler, saylere, equivalent to sail + -or. Cognate with German Segler (“sailor”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English marinel, marynell (“sailor”) borrowed from Old French marinel (“sailor”). See mari… The correct English form is sailor, spelled S-A-I-L-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
  2. 2
    A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
  3. 3
    A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
  4. 4
    Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genera Neptis, Pseudoneptis and Phaedyma, having white markings on a dark base and commonly flying by gliding.
  5. 5
    A stiff straw hat with a flat, circular brim and a low, flat crown.
  6. 6
    A brick, for example in a course of brickwork, that is laid vertically on its shortest end (smallest face), with its widest face facing the outside of the wall.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He's a talented sailor and has spent many years at sea.
  2. Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, […] naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

Etymology

Alteration of earlier sailer, from Middle English sailer, sayler, saylere, equivalent to sail + -or. Cognate with German Segler (“sailor”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English marinel, marynell (“sailor”) borrowed from Old French marinel (“sailor”). See mariner.

Synonyms

jackjacktarlobscousermarinermatelotNeptunianNeptunistsailorsaltseafarerseamanshipmansquidswabswabbytarwaterman

Antonyms

landlubberlandmanlandsmannonsailor

This word in other languages

marinero(Español)matelot(Français)Matrose(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • asilor
  • saillor
  • sailorr
  • sailro
  • saiolr
  • salior
  • sialor
  • ssailor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

asilor2saillor1sailorr1sailro2saiolr2salior2sialor2ssailor1
Edit distance from "sailor"

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 "sailor"?
"sailor" is spelled S-A-I-L-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈseɪ.lɚ/.
What does "sailor" mean?
As a noun, "sailor" means: A person who sails; one whose occupation is sailing or navigating ships or other waterborne craft.
What words are commonly confused with "sailor"?
"sailor" is commonly confused with "silo", "salon", "sails". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sailor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sailor" is /ˈseɪ.lɚ/. 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 "sailor"?
Alteration of earlier sailer, from Middle English sailer, sayler, saylere, equivalent to sail + -or. Cognate with German Segler (“sailor”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English marinel, marynell (“sailor”) borrowed from Old French marinel (“sailor”)... 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 "sailor", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

render#9,949slides#9,959Python#9,943tenant#9,968

Similar misspelling depth

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

Simmons8 variantsparole8 variantsUganda8 variantspaired8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list