URL

/ˌjuːˌɑːɹˈɛl/

//ˌjuːˌɑːɹˈɛl// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"url" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“URL” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8,874) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8,874
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Initialism of Uniform Resource Locator: the address of a web page, FTP site, audio stream or other Internet resource.

Corpus desk

Index EN-url · URL · English

URL · rank #8,874 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,874
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH trilogy

Nearest frequency peer: trilogy (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “URL”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “URL” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

URL vs us
0% similar
URL vs UT
33% similar
URL vs UV
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for URL
PropertyValue
HeadwordURL
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌjuːˌɑːɹˈɛl/
Letters3
Frequency rank#8,874
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “URL”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).URLlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “trilogy” (#8,873), “weights” (#8,875), “Trevor” (#8,872). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “URL” is #8,874. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for URL is neighbouring look-alikes ("us", "UT", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˌjuːˌɑːɹˈɛl/. Frequency #8,874 among 1,433 “U” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

URL has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "us", "UT", "UV", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is URL, spelled U-R-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of Uniform Resource Locator: the address of a web page, FTP site, audio stream or other Internet resource.
  2. 2
    Initialism of Uniform Resource Locator: the address of a web page, FTP site, audio stream or other Internet resource.
  3. 3
    Initialism of Uniform Resource Locator: the address of a web page, FTP site, audio stream or other Internet resource.
  4. 4
    Initialism of unrestricted line officer.
  5. 5
    Initialism of upper reference limit.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how URL appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. https://en.wiktionary.org/ is the URL of English Wiktionary.
  2. Google itself has even been accused of profiting from the work of cybersquatters who buy URLs that are near to famous ones, but which often get mistyped–a practice known as typosquatting.

This word in other languages

URL(Français)URL(Deutsch)endereço(Português)

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 "URL"?
"URL" is spelled U-R-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌjuːˌɑːɹˈɛl/.
What does "URL" mean?
As a noun, "URL" means: Initialism of Uniform Resource Locator: the address of a web page, FTP site, audio stream or other Internet resource.
What words are commonly confused with "URL"?
"URL" is commonly confused with "us", "UT", "UV". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "URL"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "URL" is /ˌjuːˌɑːɹˈɛl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "URL" come from?
"URL" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "URL", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ATM#8,891bra#8,898rig#8,850NSA#8,834

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list