vellum
/ˈvɛləm/
"vellum" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vellum” is uncommon English (frequency #50,307 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #50,307
- frequency rank, English
- 969
- “V” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A type of parchment paper made from the skin of a lamb, baby goat, or calf.
Corpus desk
Index EN-vellum · vellum · English
vellum · rank #50,307 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #50,307
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 969
- PHOTO-FINISH veering
Nearest frequency peer: veering (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “vellum”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- unzip
unzip
49,699 corpus weight
- Upham
Upham
49,698 corpus weight
- Vallarta
Vallarta
49,697 corpus weight
- veering
veering
49,695 corpus weight
- vellum
vellum
49,694 corpus weight
- visualise
visualise
49,692 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “vellum” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | vellum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈvɛləm/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #50,307 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “vellum” in English
Rare enough to double-check
vellum is uncommon English at frequency #50,307 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈvɛləm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for vellum, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French velin (French vélin), from Latin vitulinus (“of a calf”), as if derived from Old French veel (“veal”). The correct English form is vellum, spelled V-E-L-L-U-M.
Definition
- 1A type of parchment paper made from the skin of a lamb, baby goat, or calf.
- 2A writing paper of very high quality.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how vellum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Little, however, of the wall was seen, for it was nearly hidden by the arched book-cases; and the ponderous tomes, mostly bound in black or white vellum, long since grown dingy with age, contrasted forcibly with the gayer ornaments of their habitation.
From this list are purposely omitted books printed upon vellum, Books of Hours of the Virgin Mary, and illuminated books; for these are rarities within reach of the wealthy only.
Etymology
From Old French velin (French vélin), from Latin vitulinus (“of a calf”), as if derived from Old French veel (“veal”).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "vellum", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).