English homophones
lai/lye
"lai" (#19,883 written frequency) beats "lye" (#40,787) in this 2-word /laɪ/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /laɪ/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "lai" leads at #19,883, with "lye" trailing at #40,787.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "lai" is 3 letters, "lye" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across lai, lye: l. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
lai
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory ail · private ai
lye
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory ely · private ey
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "lai" when you mean: A mostly North European medieval form of lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventur…
- Write "lye" when you mean: An alkaline liquid made by leaching ashes (usually wood ashes).
Each spelling
noun · /laɪ/ · #19,883 frequency
A mostly North European medieval form of lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance, with stanzas that do not repeat.
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (lai, lye). Here's where to go from here.
- "lai" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #19,883 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: love · luv. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "lai, lye" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.