silt

/sɪlt/

//sɪlt// noun

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

"silt" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“silt” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,585. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#30,585
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.

Corpus desk

Index EN-silt · silt · English

silt · rank #30,585 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,585
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sisterhood

Nearest frequency peer: sisterhood (+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 “silt”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “silt” 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).

silt vs SL
0% similar
silt vs six
50% similar
silt vs sir
50% similar

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

Key facts for silt
PropertyValue
Headwordsilt
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɪlt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#30,585
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “silt”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).siltlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “sisterhood” (#30,586), “sketched” (#30,587), “shep” (#30,582). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “silt” is #30,585. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around silt (IPA /sɪlt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #30,585 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for silt, with forms such as "islt", "sillt", and "siltt". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SL", "six", "sir", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *séh₂ls From Middle English silte, cilte, cylte, perhaps from Middle English silen ("to filter; strain"; equivalent to sile + -t), or cognate with Norwegian and Danish sylt (“salt marsh”), Middle Low German sulte (“salt-marsh”), German Sülze (“mea… The correct English form is silt, spelled S-I-L-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
  2. 2
    Any material with similar physical characteristics, regardless of its origins or transport.
  3. 3
    A particle from 3.9 to 62.5 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A large tube is then followed over several silt banks to surface after a total dive of 200 m in a large passage containing an active streamway – The San Agustin Way. 5 m before the passage surfaces another line junction is passed, ...
  2. Above the lower headcut, phreatophytic mesquite and little leaf sumac hug the banks, drawing pendulate water from the silts remaining from former marsh deposits and sending long taproots into channel stores.

Etymology

PIE word *séh₂ls From Middle English silte, cilte, cylte, perhaps from Middle English silen ("to filter; strain"; equivalent to sile + -t), or cognate with Norwegian and Danish sylt (“salt marsh”), Middle Low German sulte (“salt-marsh”), German Sülze (“meat in aspic”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“salty water; brine”). Related to Old English sealt (“salt”).

This word in other languages

limo(Español)silt(Français)Schlamm(Deutsch)sedimento(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • islt
  • sillt
  • siltt
  • sitl
  • ssilt

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of silt - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

islt2sillt1siltt1sitl2ssilt1
Edit distance from "silt"

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 "silt"?
"silt" is spelled S-I-L-T. The IPA pronunciation is /sɪlt/.
What does "silt" mean?
As a noun, "silt" means: Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
What words are commonly confused with "silt"?
"silt" is commonly confused with "SL", "six", "sir". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "silt"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "silt" is /sɪlt/. 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 "silt"?
PIE word *séh₂ls From Middle English silte, cilte, cylte, perhaps from Middle English silen ("to filter; strain"; equivalent to sile + -t), or cognate with Norwegian and Danish sylt (“salt marsh”), Middle Low German sulte (“salt-marsh”), German S... 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 "silt", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

shep#30,582snob#30,592Rojo#30,571pfft#30,535

Similar misspelling depth

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

Odell5 variantsmousse5 variantsall's5 variantskeene5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list