tellin
/ˈtɛlɪn/
"tellin" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tellin” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,231 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,231
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A marine bivalve mollusc, of the genus Tellina, that burrows in the sand, from where it siphons detritus.
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 | tellin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɛlɪn/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #25,231 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tellin” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tellin is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɛlɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,231 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A marine bivalve mollusc, of the genus Tellina, that burrows in the sand, from where it siphons detritus.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for tellin, with forms such as "etllin", "teliln", and "telin". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "tells", "telly", "Tomlin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin Tellina, from Ancient Greek τελλίνη (tellínē, “a small bivalve shellfish”) The correct English form is tellin, spelled T-E-L-L-I-N.
Definition
- 1A marine bivalve mollusc, of the genus Tellina, that burrows in the sand, from where it siphons detritus.
Etymology
From New Latin Tellina, from Ancient Greek τελλίνη (tellínē, “a small bivalve shellfish”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: etllin,teliln,telin,tellinn,tellni,tlelin,ttellin
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tellin - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Using “tellin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-E-L-L-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɛlɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tells” - see the side-by-side comparison. tellin vs tells
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.