vessel
/ˈvɛs.əl/
"vessel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vessel” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,565 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,565
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A craft for transportation on or in water, air, or space.
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 | vessel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈvɛs.əl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #4,565 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vessel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for vessel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvɛs.əl/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,565 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 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 vessel, with forms such as "evssel", "vesel", and "vesesl". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "vested", "Vettel", "vessels", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wāss Late Latin vās Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Italic *-elom Late Latin -ulum Late Latin -culum Late Latin vāsculum Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Italic *-elos Late Latin -lus Late Latin vāscellum Old French vaisselbor. M… The correct English form is vessel, spelled V-E-S-S-E-L.
Definition
- 1A craft for transportation on or in water, air, or space.
- 2A craft for transportation on or in water, air, or space.
- 3Dishes and cutlery collectively, especially if made of precious metals.
- 4A container of liquid or other substance, such as a glass, goblet, cup, bottle, bowl, or pitcher.
- 5A person as a container of qualities or feelings.
- 6A tube or canal that carries fluid in an animal or plant.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wāss Late Latin vās Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Italic *-elom Late Latin -ulum Late Latin -culum Late Latin vāsculum Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Italic *-elos Late Latin -lus Late Latin vāscellum Old French vaisselbor. Middle English vessel English vessel Inherited from Middle English vessel, vessell (“small container”); from Old French vaissel (compare modern French vaisseau and Catalan vaixell), from Late Latin vāscellum, diminutive of vāsculum, diminutive of vās (“vase, vessel”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: evssel,vesel,vesesl,vessell,vessle,vsesel,vvessel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vessel - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “vessel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-S-S-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvɛs.əl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “vested” - see the side-by-side comparison. vessel vs vested
- 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.