swaddle
/ˈswɒdəl/
"swaddle" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“swaddle” is uncommon English (frequency #76,371 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #76,371
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To bind (a baby) with long narrow strips of cloth.
Corpus desk
Index EN-swaddle · swaddle · English
swaddle · rank #76,371 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #76,371
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH Sveta
Nearest frequency peer: Sveta (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “swaddle”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- subtractive
subtractive
23,633 corpus weight
- Sveta
Sveta
23,631 corpus weight
- swaddle
swaddle
23,630 corpus weight
- sweeting
sweeting
23,628 corpus weight
- swingman
swingman
23,627 corpus weight
- syndicalist
syndicalist
23,625 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “swaddle” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | swaddle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈswɒdəl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #76,371 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “swaddle” in English
Rare enough to double-check
swaddle is uncommon English at frequency #76,371 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈswɒdəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
swaddle has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English swathlen (“to bind; swaddle”), from Middle English swathel, swethel, from Old English swaþul, swæþel, sweþel, sweoþol (“swaddling cloth”), equivalent to swathe (“to wrap with fabric”) + -le (agent/instrumental suffix), the word then unde… The correct English form is swaddle, spelled S-W-A-D-D-L-E.
Definition
- 1To bind (a baby) with long narrow strips of cloth.
- 2To beat; cudgel.
Etymology
From Middle English swathlen (“to bind; swaddle”), from Middle English swathel, swethel, from Old English swaþul, swæþel, sweþel, sweoþol (“swaddling cloth”), equivalent to swathe (“to wrap with fabric”) + -le (agent/instrumental suffix), the word then underwent th-stopping (its voiced th became a d). Cognate with Middle Dutch swadel (“swaddling; bandage”), Old High German swedili (“poultice”), Old English sweþian, besweþian (“to wrap; swaddle”).
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "swaddle", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).