xylem

/ˈzaɪ.ləm/

//ˈzaɪ.ləm// noun

"xylem" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“xylem” is uncommon English (frequency #74,671 among 54 “X” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#74,671
frequency rank, English
54
“X” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A vascular tissue in land plants primarily responsible for the distribution of water and minerals taken up by the roots; also the primary component of wood.

Corpus desk

Index EN-xylem · xylem · English

xylem · rank #74,671 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #74,671
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 54
  • PHOTO-FINISH youself

Nearest frequency peer: youself (+4 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 “xylem”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “xylem” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for xylem
PropertyValue
Headwordxylem
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈzaɪ.ləm/
Letters5
Frequency rank#74,671
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “xylem” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).xylemfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “youself” (#74,675), “WX” (#74,666), “youthfulness” (#74,676). Among 54 “X” headwords, “xylem” is #74,671. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

xylem is uncommon English at frequency #74,671 among 54 “X” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈzaɪ.ləm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A vascular tissue in land plants primarily responsible for the distribution of water and minerals taken up by the roots; also the primary component of wood.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for xylem, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From German Xylem, from Ancient Greek ξύλον (xúlon, “wood”). The correct English form is xylem, spelled X-Y-L-E-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A vascular tissue in land plants primarily responsible for the distribution of water and minerals taken up by the roots; also the primary component of wood.

Etymology

From German Xylem, from Ancient Greek ξύλον (xúlon, “wood”).

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

How do you spell "xylem"?
"xylem" is spelled X-Y-L-E-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈzaɪ.ləm/.
What does "xylem" mean?
As a noun, "xylem" means: A vascular tissue in land plants primarily responsible for the distribution of water and minerals taken up by the roots; also the primary component of wood.
How do you pronounce "xylem"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "xylem" is /ˈzaɪ.ləm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "xylem"?
From German Xylem, from Ancient Greek ξύλον (xúlon, “wood”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "xylem", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list