# spool

> English word · Noun · IPA /spuːl/ · frequency rank #35,530

## Definitions
1. A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle.
2. One of the rotating assemblies of a gas turbine engine, composed of one or more turbine stages, a shaft, and one or more compressor or fan stages.
3. A temporary storage area for electronic mail, etc.
4. A splinter caught in the skin.

## Etymology
From Middle English spole (possibly via Old Northern French spole, espole), from Middle Dutch spoele, from Old Dutch *spōla, *spuola, from Proto-Germanic *spōlǭ (“spool”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to cleave, split”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Spoule (“spool”), Dutch spoel (“spool”), German Spule (“spool”), Swedish spole (“spool”), Icelandic spóla (“spool; reel”). The aviation usage is based on the visual similarity of one of the spools of a turbine engine to a spool used for thread (especially in cross-section). See also spill.

## Easily confused with
- **spot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-spot)
- **sport** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-sport)
- **stood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-stood)
- **spots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-spots)
- **spoon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-spoon)
- **stool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-stool)
- **swoop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-swoop)
- **stoop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-stoop)
- **spout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-spout)
- **spore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-spore)
- **swoon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-swoon)
- **Stoll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-stoll)
- **spoons** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spool-vs-spoons)
- **sol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sol-vs-spool)
- **SPL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spl-vs-spool)
- **soon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soon-vs-spool)
- **soul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soul-vs-spool)
- **soil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soil-vs-spool)
- **sooo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sooo-vs-spool)
- **soot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/soot-vs-spool)

## Common misspellings (7)
`psool`, `sopol`, `spol`, `spolo`, `spooll`, `sppool`, `sspool`

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