vassal

/ˈvæsəl/

//ˈvæsəl// noun

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

"vassal" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“vassal” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #32,230. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#32,230
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.

Corpus desk

Index EN-vassal · vassal · English

vassal · rank #32,230 · 7 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #32,230
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH unsupervised

Nearest frequency peer: unsupervised (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “vassal”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “vassal” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

vassal vs visual
67% similar
vassal vs vessel
67% similar
vassal vs Vishal
50% similar

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

Key facts for vassal
PropertyValue
Headwordvassal
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈvæsəl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#32,230
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “vassal”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).vassallands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “unsupervised” (#32,229), “vegetative” (#32,231), “unrelenting” (#32,228). Among 969 “V” headwords, “vassal” is #32,230. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around vassal (IPA /ˈvæsəl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #32,230 among 969 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for vassal, with forms such as "avssal", "vasal", and "vasasl". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "visual", "vessel", "Vishal", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss an… The correct English form is vassal, spelled V-A-S-S-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    The grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.
  2. 2
    Any direct subordinate bound by such vows to a superior.
  3. 3
    Any subordinate bound by similar close ties.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The manor's vassals owed first fruits and a tithe to the parish church, another 10% to the lord (including at least 50 eels), a week or two each year of service in the manor's upkeep, and service in the local fyrd.
  2. It was superimposed on rules of conduct evolved at an earlier date as the spontaneous expression of class consciousness; rules that pertained to the fealty of vassals (the transition appears clearly, towards the end of the eleventh century, in the Book of the Christian Life by Bishop Bonizo of Sutri, for whom the knight is, first and foremost, an enfeoffe…

Etymology

From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).

This word in other languages

vasallo(Español)vassal(Français)Vasall(Deutsch)servo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • avssal
  • vasal
  • vasasl
  • vassall
  • vassla
  • vsasal
  • vvassal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vassal - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

avssal2vasal1vasasl2vassall1vassla2vsasal2vvassal1
Edit distance from "vassal"

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 "vassal"?
"vassal" is spelled V-A-S-S-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈvæsəl/.
What does "vassal" mean?
As a noun, "vassal" means: The grantee of a fief, a subordinate granted use of a superior's land and its income in exchange for vows of fidelity and homage and (typically) military service.
What words are commonly confused with "vassal"?
"vassal" is commonly confused with "visual", "vessel", "Vishal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "vassal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "vassal" is /ˈvæsəl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "vassal"?
From Middle English vassal, from Old French vassal, from Medieval Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from Latin vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Iri... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "vassal", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Velcro#32,232Wabash#32,236Weimar#32,242Yunnan#32,257

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Verne7 variantsTebow7 variantsStowe7 variantsSinha7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list