lead

[lɛd]

/[lɛd]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“lead” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #22,808) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#22,808
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Blei

Corpus desk

Index DE-lead · lead · German

lead · rank #22,808 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,808
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH langweilen

Nearest frequency peer: langweilen (-1 rank slots)

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.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „lead“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „lead“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

lead vs Leo
25% similar
lead vs Lee
25% similar
lead vs leg
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for lead
PropertyValue
Headwordlead
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[lɛd]
Letters4
Frequency rank#22,808
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „lead“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).leadliegt auf dieser Marke:

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „langweilen“ (#22,807), „Lebensweg“ (#22,809), „Landratsamt“ (#22,806). Unter 2,640 „L“-Lemmata liegt „lead“ bei #22,808. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for lead is neighbouring look-alikes ("Leo", "Lee", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [lɛd]. Frequency #22,808 among 2,640 “L” headwords. 8 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for lead, with forms such as "elad", "leadd", and "leda". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Leo", "Lee", "leg", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is lead, spelled L-E-A-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Blei
  2. 2
    Senkblei, Senklot
  3. 3
    isolierte, meist flexible elektrische Leitung, Ader
  4. 4
    dünner langer Stift aus Graphit; Bleistiftmine
  5. 5
    Dach, das mit Schindeln aus Blei bedeckt ist
  6. 6
    Fensterfassung aus Blei (vor allem bei Kirchenfenstern)
  7. 7
    Raum zwischen den Zeilen; Durchschuss
  8. 8
    Gewindesteigung

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The coin was made of lead.
  2. „I would have the tower two stories, and goodly leads upon the top.“

Synonyms

leadingflank lead

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • elad
  • leadd
  • leda
  • llead

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lead - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

elad2leadd1leda2llead1
Edit distance from "lead"

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 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lead"?
"lead" is spelled L-E-A-D. The IPA pronunciation is [lɛd].
What does "lead" mean?
As a noun, "lead" means: Blei
What words are commonly confused with "lead"?
"lead" is commonly confused with "Leo", "Lee", "leg". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lead"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lead" is [lɛd]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lead" come from?
"lead" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 German words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Lech#22,810LGBT#22,815Ines#22,771herb#22,757

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list