sol
/sɒl/
"sol" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sol” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #11,466) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #11,466
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In a movable-do or tonic sol-fa system: the fifth step in a scale, preceded by fa and followed by la.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sol · sol · English
sol · rank #11,466 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,466
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH solicitor
Nearest frequency peer: solicitor (+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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “sol”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- simplified
simplified
88,538 corpus weight
- slipping
slipping
88,537 corpus weight
- sol
sol
88,535 corpus weight
- solicitor
solicitor
88,534 corpus weight
- sophomore
sophomore
88,533 corpus weight
- squadron
squadron
88,531 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “sol” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sol |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sɒl/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #11,466 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sol” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for sol is neighbouring look-alikes ("SS", "SP", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /sɒl/. Frequency #11,466 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
No generated misspelling entries exist for sol in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SS", "SP", "su", 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 Glover's solmization, from Middle English sol (“fifth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian sol in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin solve (“wash away”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending… The correct English form is sol, spelled S-O-L.
Definition
- 1In a movable-do or tonic sol-fa system: the fifth step in a scale, preceded by fa and followed by la.
- 2In a fixed-do system: the musical note G.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sol appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
D ſol re, one Cliffe, two notes haue I, / Ela mi, ſhow pitty or I die.
Ser[vant, i.e., Peter]. Alack alack what ſhal I doe, come Fidlers play me ſome mery dumpe. / I. [First musician]. A ſir, this is no time to play. / […] / Ser. Then will I giue it you, and ſoundly to. / I. What will you giue vs? / Ser. The fidler, Ile re you, Ile fa you, Ile ſol you. / I. If you re vs and fa vs, we will note you.
Etymology
From Glover's solmization, from Middle English sol (“fifth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian sol in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin solve (“wash away”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.
This word in other languages
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sol", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "sol". Here's where to go from here.
- "sol" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "SS". View pair
- Usage frequency rank #11,466 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.