# shelf

> English word · Noun · IPA /ʃɛlf/ · frequency rank #6,960

## Definitions
1. A flat, rigid structure, fixed at right angles to a wall or forming a part of a cabinet, desk, etc., and used to display, store, or support objects.
2. The capacity of such an object
3. A projecting ledge that resembles such an object.
4. The part of a repository where shelvesets are stored.

## Etymology
From Middle English schelfe, probably from Old English sċylfe, sċilfe (“shelf, ledge, deck of a ship”), from Proto-West Germanic *skilfijā, from Proto-Germanic *skelfō (“shelf, ledge, cliff”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut”), distantly related to sculpt, carve and shell. Cognate with Dutch schelf (“hay loft, haystack”), German Low German Schelf (“haystack”), Old Norse skjalf (“bench”).

## Easily confused with
- **Shen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-shen)
- **shep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-shep)
- **Shem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-shem)
- **smell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-smell)
- **shell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-shell)
- **spell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-spell)
- **swell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-swell)
- **spelt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-spelt)
- **smelt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-smelt)
- **snell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-snell)
- **sheng** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-sheng)
- **shill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-shill)
- **shield** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-shield)
- **shells** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-shells)
- **shelly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shelf-vs-shelly)
- **she** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/she-vs-shelf)
- **Sel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sel-vs-shelf)
- **self** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/self-vs-shelf)
- **sell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sell-vs-shelf)
- **shed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shed-vs-shelf)

## Common misspellings (8)
`hself`, `sehlf`, `shefl`, `shelff`, `shellf`, `shhelf`, `shlef`, `sshelf`

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