windlass
/ˈwɪnd.ləs/
"windlass" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“windlass” is uncommon English (frequency #94,441 among 12,113 “W” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #94,441
- frequency rank, English
- 12,113
- “W” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of various forms of winch, in which a rope or cable is wound around a cylinder, used for lifting heavy weights
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | windlass |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɪnd.ləs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #94,441 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “windlass” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
windlass is uncommon English at frequency #94,441 among 12,113 “W” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwɪnd.ləs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for windlass in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wyndlas, wyndelas, wyndlasse, wyndelasse, probably an alteration (due to Middle English windel) of Middle English windas, wyndas, wyndace, from Anglo-Norman windase, windeis and Old Northern French windas (compare Old French guindas, Med… The correct English form is windlass, spelled W-I-N-D-L-A-S-S.
Definition
- 1Any of various forms of winch, in which a rope or cable is wound around a cylinder, used for lifting heavy weights
- 2A winding and circuitous way; a roundabout course.
- 3An apparatus resembling a winch or windlass, for bending the bow of an arblast, or crossbow.
Etymology
From Middle English wyndlas, wyndelas, wyndlasse, wyndelasse, probably an alteration (due to Middle English windel) of Middle English windas, wyndas, wyndace, from Anglo-Norman windase, windeis and Old Northern French windas (compare Old French guindas, Medieval Latin windasius, windasa), from Old Norse vindáss (“windlass”, literally “winding-pole”), from vinda (“to wind”) + áss (“pole”). Compare Icelandic vindilass.
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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Using “windlass”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-I-N-D-L-A-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwɪnd.ləs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.