yarmulke

/ˈjɑːməlkə/

//ˈjɑːməlkə// noun

"yarmulke" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“yarmulke” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A skullcap worn by religious Jewish males (especially during prayer).

Corpus desk

Index EN-yarmulke · yarmulke · English

yarmulke · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "Y" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for yarmulke
PropertyValue
Headwordyarmulke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈjɑːməlkə/
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “yarmulke” sits in English frequency

yarmulkesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

yarmulke is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈjɑːməlkə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A skullcap worn by religious Jewish males (especially during prayer).".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for yarmulke, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Yiddish יאַרמלקע (yarmlke), from Polish jarmułka (“skullcap”), from Turkic; compare Turkish yağmurluk (“rain apparel”). The correct English form is yarmulke, spelled Y-A-R-M-U-L-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A skullcap worn by religious Jewish males (especially during prayer).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how yarmulke appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. And I always feel uncomfortable dur­ing the High Holy Days watching people in yarmulkes rushing through the streets, knowing they’ll be swaying and moaning something ancient and indecipherable, even to me.
  2. But once Dr. Levenson, who works for the Indian Health Service and wears a colorful tapestry yarmulke, has alerted the tiny network, it almost seems as if we have stepped into Yiddishland.

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish יאַרמלקע (yarmlke), from Polish jarmułka (“skullcap”), from Turkic; compare Turkish yağmurluk (“rain apparel”).

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "yarmulke"?
"yarmulke" is spelled Y-A-R-M-U-L-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈjɑːməlkə/.
What does "yarmulke" mean?
As a noun, "yarmulke" means: A skullcap worn by religious Jewish males (especially during prayer).
How do you pronounce "yarmulke"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "yarmulke" is /ˈjɑːməlkə/. 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 "yarmulke"?
Borrowed from Yiddish יאַרמלקע (yarmlke), from Polish jarmułka (“skullcap”), from Turkic; compare Turkish yağmurluk (“rain apparel”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
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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.

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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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list