How to spell vowel

hear itvow·el/'vaʊəl/nounLong vowels

What it means: A speech sound made with an open mouth, or its letter.

In a sentence: A, E, I, O, and U are each a vowel.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as vowal.

Same family: vowels, vowel sound, vocal, vocalize, vocalic. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: The word "vowel" comes from Old French "vouel," from Latin "vocalis (littera)," meaning "vocal (letter)," the kind of letter you can pronounce on its own as a full sound.

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

Words like this

howl · below · arrow · how many · crow · grow · flow · tow

Spelling.School is a spaced-repetition spelling practice: ten minutes a day, every word spoken aloud, every miss explained, and every word coming back just before you would forget it. Try five words without signing up.