STOL

/stɔl/

//stɔl// noun

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

The verdict

“STOL” is uncommon English (frequency #71,941 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,941
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Acronym of short takeoff and landing, an aircraft that needs a shorter minimum horizontal distance to accelerate in order to ascend into the air than typical fixed wing types.

Key facts for STOL
PropertyValue
HeadwordSTOL
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stɔl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#71,941
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “STOL” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). STOL lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

STOL is uncommon English at frequency #71,941 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /stɔl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Acronym of short takeoff and landing, an aircraft that needs a shorter minimum horizontal distance to accelerate in order to ascend into the air than typical fixed wing types.".

STOL has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is STOL, spelled S-T-O-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acronym of short takeoff and landing, an aircraft that needs a shorter minimum horizontal distance to accelerate in order to ascend into the air than typical fixed wing types.

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 "STOL"?
"STOL" is spelled S-T-O-L. The IPA pronunciation is /stɔl/.
What does "STOL" mean?
As a noun, "STOL" means: Acronym of short takeoff and landing, an aircraft that needs a shorter minimum horizontal distance to accelerate in order to ascend into the air than typical fixed wing types.
How do you pronounce "STOL"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "STOL" is /stɔl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "STOL" come from?
"STOL" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Using “STOL”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-T-O-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /stɔl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list