# seal

> English word · Noun · IPA /siːl/ · frequency rank #4,331

## Definitions
1. A pinniped (Pinnipedia), particularly an earless seal (true seal) or eared seal.

## Etymology
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).

## Easily confused with
- **SL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sl)
- **see** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-see)
- **set** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-set)
- **sex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sex)
- **sec** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sec)
- **sen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sen)
- **SEO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-seo)
- **spa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-spa)
- **SEP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sep)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sol)
- **ser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-ser)
- **sew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sew)
- **SQL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sql)
- **sha** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sha)
- **STA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sta)
- **ses** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-ses)
- **sem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sem)
- **SNL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-snl)
- **sia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-sia)
- **SEQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seal-vs-seq)

## Common misspellings (4)
`esal`, `seall`, `sela`, `sseal`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/seal