vassal
/ˈvæsəl/
"vassal" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vassal” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,230 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #32,230
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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.
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 | vassal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈvæsəl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #32,230 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vassal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for vassal is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvæsəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,230 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1The 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.
- 2Any direct subordinate bound by such vows to a superior.
- 3Any subordinate bound by similar close ties.
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
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.
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"?
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Using “vassal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-A-S-S-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvæsəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “visual” - see the side-by-side comparison. vassal vs visual
- 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.