shingle

/ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/

//ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl// noun

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

"shingle" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shingle” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #29,835. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,835
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A small, thin piece of building material, often with one end thicker than the other, for laying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or sides of a building.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shingle · shingle · English

shingle · rank #29,835 · 11 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,835
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shimmer

Nearest frequency peer: shimmer (-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 “shingle”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “shingle” 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).

shingle vs single
86% similar
shingle vs singly
71% similar
shingle vs singles
71% similar

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

Key facts for shingle
PropertyValue
Headwordshingle
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#29,835
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shingle”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).shinglelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “shimmer” (#29,834), “shoplifting” (#29,836), “Shankar” (#29,833). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shingle” is #29,835. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around shingle (IPA /ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,835 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for shingle, with forms such as "hsingle", "shhingle", and "shignle". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "single", "singly", "singles", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English shyngel, alteration of Old English sċindel, from Proto-West Germanic *skindulā, borrowed from Late Latin scindula, from Latin scandula, from Proto-Indo-European *sked- (“to split, scatter”), from *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of shindle. The correct English form is shingle, spelled S-H-I-N-G-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A small, thin piece of building material, often with one end thicker than the other, for laying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or sides of a building.
  2. 2
    A rectangular piece of steel obtained by means of a shingling process involving hammering of puddled steel.
  3. 3
    A small signboard designating a professional office; this may be both a physical signboard or a metaphoric term for a small production company (a production shingle).
  4. 4
    A word-based n-gram.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I reached St. Asaph, a Bishop's See, where there is a very poor Cathedral Church, covered with Shingles or Tiles
  2. He [...] hung a shingle as a barber.

Etymology

From Middle English shyngel, alteration of Old English sċindel, from Proto-West Germanic *skindulā, borrowed from Late Latin scindula, from Latin scandula, from Proto-Indo-European *sked- (“to split, scatter”), from *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of shindle.

This word in other languages

teja(Español)bardeau(Français)Schindel(Deutsch)telha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsingle
  • shhingle
  • shignle
  • shingel
  • shinggle
  • shinglle
  • shinlge
  • shinngle
  • shnigle
  • sihngle
  • sshingle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

hsingle2shhingle1shignle2shingel2shinggle1shinglle1shinlge2shinngle1
Edit distance from "shingle"

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 "shingle"?
"shingle" is spelled S-H-I-N-G-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/.
What does "shingle" mean?
As a noun, "shingle" means: A small, thin piece of building material, often with one end thicker than the other, for laying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or sides of a building.
What words are commonly confused with "shingle"?
"shingle" is commonly confused with "single", "singly", "singles". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shingle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shingle" is /ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/. 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 "shingle"?
From Middle English shyngel, alteration of Old English sċindel, from Proto-West Germanic *skindulā, borrowed from Late Latin scindula, from Latin scandula, from Proto-Indo-European *sked- (“to split, scatter”), from *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of sh... 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 "shingle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

shimmer#29,834Shankar#29,833sexting#29,832sandman#29,823

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

stillness11 variantspretzel11 variantsphasing11 variantswithers11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list