trowel
/ˈtɹaʊ.əl/
"trowel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“trowel” is uncommon English (frequency #56,499 among 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,499
- frequency rank, English
- 27,828
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A mason’s tool, used in spreading and dressing mortar, and breaking bricks to shape them.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | trowel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɹaʊ.əl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #56,499 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “trowel” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
trowel is uncommon English at frequency #56,499 among 27,828 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtɹaʊ.əl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
trowel has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English trowell, trouel, truel, from Middle French truelle, from Late Latin truella, from Classical Latin trulla, the diminutive of trua (“ladle”). Doublet of trullo. The correct English form is trowel, spelled T-R-O-W-E-L.
Definition
- 1A mason’s tool, used in spreading and dressing mortar, and breaking bricks to shape them.
- 2A gardener’s tool, shaped like a scoop, used in taking up plants, stirring soil etc.
- 3A tool used for smoothing a mold.
Etymology
From Middle English trowell, trouel, truel, from Middle French truelle, from Late Latin truella, from Classical Latin trulla, the diminutive of trua (“ladle”). Doublet of trullo.
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
How do you spell "trowel"?
What does "trowel" mean?
How do you pronounce "trowel"?
What is the origin of the word "trowel"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “trowel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-R-O-W-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɹaʊ.əl/ (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.