seal
/siːl/noun, verb
seal is spelled S-E-A-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “seal vs seel” about 1,600 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, seal means “A pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of seal is seals.
How many letters and syllables are in seal?
| Letters | 4: S-E-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 20 times per million words; the 4,302nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is seal?
Seal appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce seal?
- /siːl/
- /siː.əl/
Seal has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-seal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with seal
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: ceil, seel (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with seal?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as seal.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sale, lase.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of seal
- seals plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sealing participle, present
- sealed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does seal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal.
The seals in the harbor looked better than they smelled.
- 2
A stamp used to impress a design on a soft substance such as wax.
- 3
An impression of such stamp on wax, paper or other material used for sealing.
- 4
A facsimile of an impression of such stamp that is a mark or symbol of an office or organisation.
The front of the podium bore the presidential seal.
- 5
Anything that secures or authenticates.
- 6
Something which will be visibly damaged if a covering or container is opened, and which may or may not bear an official design.
The result was declared invalid, as the seal on the meter had been broken.
- 7
Confirmation or approval, or an indication of this.
Her clothes always had her mom's seal of approval.
- 8
Something designed to prevent liquids or gases from leaking through a joint.
The canister is leaking. I think the main seal needs to be replaced.
- 9
A tight closure, secure against leakage.
Close the lid tightly to get a good seal.
verb
- 1
To hunt seals.
They're organizing a protest against sealing.
- 2
To place a seal on (a document).
- 3
To mark with a stamp, as an evidence of standard exactness, legal size, or merchantable quality.
to seal weights and measures
- 4
To fasten (something) so that it cannot be opened without visible damage.
The cover is sealed. If anyone tries to open it, we'll know about it.
- 5
To prevent people or vehicles from crossing (something).
The border has been sealed until the fugitives are found.
- 6
To close securely to prevent leakage.
I've sealed the bottle to keep the contents fresh.
- 7
To place in a sealed container.
I've sealed the documents in this envelope.
- 8
To place a notation of one's next move in a sealed envelope to be opened after an adjournment.
After thinking for half an hour, the champion sealed his move.
- 9
To guarantee.
The last-minute goal sealed United’s win.
- 10
To tie up animals (especially cattle) in their stalls.
noun
- 1
Ellipsis of Navy SEAL (“member of the Sea, Air, Land unit”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Seal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | phoque , sceau, cachet , joint , sceller , cacheter |
| German | Robbe, Seehund , Stempel, Siegel , Petschaft , Dichtung |
| Portuguese | foca , selo , timbre, sinete , vedação , selo de segurança |
| Spanish | foca, lobo marino, lobo del mar , sello , precinto , signáculo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does seal come from?
From Middle English sel, from an inflectional form of Old English seolh, from Proto-West Germanic *selh, from Proto-Germanic *selhaz (compare Scots selch,selkie, North Frisian selich, Middle Dutch seel, zēle, Old High German selah, Danish sæl, Middle Low German sale, Icelandic selur), either from Proto-Indo-European *selk- (“to pull”) (compare dialectal English sullow (“plough”)) or from early Proto-Finnic *šülkeš (later *hülgeh, compare dialectal Finnish hylki, standard hylje, Estonian hüljes).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).