# troll

> English word · Noun · IPA /tɹɒl/ · frequency rank #10,784

## Definitions
1. a giant supernatural being, especially a grotesque humanoid creature living in caves or hills or under bridges.
2. An ugly or unpleasant person.
3. An optical ejection from the top of the electrically active core region of a thunderstorm that is red in colour and seems to occur after tendrils of vigorous sprites extend downward towards cloudtops.
4. A Michigander who lives on the mainland, i.e. not a resident of the Upper Peninsula, so named due to living south of the Mackinaw Bridge.

## Etymology
Partly:
* from Middle English trol (“demon (?); sorcerer (?)”) [and other forms], from Old Norse trǫll (“conjurer, mage; witch”), from Proto-Germanic *truzlą (“supernatural being; demon, fiend; giant; monster”), probably from *trudaną (“to step on; to tread”) + *-ilą (suffix forming agent nouns); and
* borrowed from Norwegian Bokmål troll, Swedish troll, or Danish trold, from Old Norse trǫll (see above).
Doublet of droll and trow.
Cognates
* Danish fortrylle (“to bewitch”), trylle (“to conjure”)
* Icelandic tröll
* Middle High German trol, crewtrolle (“spook, wraith; ogre, monster”)
* Norwegian fortrylle (“to bewitch”), trylle (“to conjure”)
* Swedish trolla (“to conjure”)

## Easily confused with
- **Troy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-troy)
- **trot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-trot)
- **truly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-truly)
- **trout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-trout)
- **troop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-troop)
- **trope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-trope)
- **trove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-trove)
- **Tyrol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-tyrol)
- **Tyrell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-tyrell)
- **trolley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/troll-vs-trolley)
- **tol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tol-vs-troll)
- **told** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/told-vs-troll)
- **tell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tell-vs-troll)
- **till** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/till-vs-troll)
- **tool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tool-vs-troll)
- **tall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tall-vs-troll)
- **toll** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/toll-vs-troll)
- **toil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/toil-vs-troll)
- **trial** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trial-vs-troll)
- **tools** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tools-vs-troll)

## Common misspellings (6)
`rtoll`, `torll`, `trlol`, `trol`, `trroll`, `ttroll`

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