vault
/vɒlt/
"vault" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vault” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,375 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,375
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An arched masonry structure supporting and forming a ceiling, whether freestanding or forming part of a larger building.
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 | vault |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /vɒlt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #8,375 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vault” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for vault is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /vɒlt/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,375 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 12 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 vault, with forms such as "avult", "valut", and "vaullt". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "volt", "vaulted", "val", 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 vaute, vowte, from Old French volte (modern voûte), from Vulgar Latin *volta < *volvita or *volŭta, a regularization of Latin volūta (compare modern volute (“spire”)), the past participle of volvere (“roll, turn”). Cognate with Spanish v… The correct English form is vault, spelled V-A-U-L-T.
Definition
- 1An arched masonry structure supporting and forming a ceiling, whether freestanding or forming part of a larger building.
- 2Any arched ceiling or roof.
- 3Anything resembling such a downward-facing concave structure, particularly the sky and caves.
- 4The space covered by an arched roof, particularly underground rooms and (Christianity, obsolete) church crypts.
- 5Any cellar or underground storeroom.
- 6Any burial chamber, particularly those underground.
- 7The secure room or rooms in or below a bank used to store currency and other valuables; similar rooms in other settings.
- 8Any archive of past content.
- 9An encrypted digital archive.
- 10An underground or covered conduit for water or waste; a drain; a sewer.
- 11An underground or covered reservoir for water or waste; a cistern; a cesspit.
- 12A room employing a cesspit or sewer: an outhouse; a lavatory.
Etymology
From Middle English vaute, vowte, from Old French volte (modern voûte), from Vulgar Latin *volta < *volvita or *volŭta, a regularization of Latin volūta (compare modern volute (“spire”)), the past participle of volvere (“roll, turn”). Cognate with Spanish vuelta (“turn”) and Portuguese volta ("turn"). Doublet of volute.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: avult,valut,vaullt,vaultt,vautl,vualt,vvault
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vault - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “vault”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-A-U-L-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /vɒlt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “volt” - see the side-by-side comparison. vault vs volt
- 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.