tribunal
/tɹaɪˈbjunəl/
"tribunal" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tribunal” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,620 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,620
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An assembly including one or more judges to conduct judicial business; a court of law.
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 | tribunal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /tɹaɪˈbjunəl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #8,620 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tribunal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tribunal is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɹaɪˈbjunəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,620 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for tribunal, with forms such as "rtibunal", "tirbunal", and "trbiunal". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "tribune", "tribal", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *tréyes From Old French tribunal, from Latin tribūnal (“tribunal”), from tribus (“tribe”). The correct English form is tribunal, spelled T-R-I-B-U-N-A-L.
Definition
- 1An assembly including one or more judges to conduct judicial business; a court of law.
- 2A kind of village hall used to transact business, to quarter troops and travellers, and to confine prisoners.
Etymology
PIE word *tréyes From Old French tribunal, from Latin tribūnal (“tribunal”), from tribus (“tribe”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rtibunal,tirbunal,trbiunal,tribbunal,tribnual,tribuanl,tribunall,tribunla,tribunnal,triubnal,trribunal,ttribunal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tribunal - 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
How do you spell "tribunal"?
What does "tribunal" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "tribunal"?
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Using “tribunal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-R-I-B-U-N-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /tɹaɪˈbjunəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tribune” - see the side-by-side comparison. tribunal vs tribune
- 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.