Lain or lane?
lain is a verb meaning “past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)”; lane is a noun meaning “A road, street, or similar thoroughfare”. They sound the same (/leɪn/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) lane is about 50 times as common as lain.
What is the difference between lain and lane?
| lain | lane | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb | noun |
| Meaning | A road, street, or similar thoroughfare A narrow passageway between fences, walls, hedges or trees | |
| Example | He had lain there for many hours | Penny Lane |
| Forms | lains, laining, lained | lanes |
| Pronunciation | /leɪn/ | /leɪn/ |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words | 37 times per million words |
Sources: lain and lane in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of lain and lane
lane
- 1
A road, street, or similar thoroughfare
Penny Lane
- 2
A narrow passageway between fences, walls, hedges or trees
There's a shortcut to the shops through this leafy lane
- 3
A narrow road, as in the country
- 4
A lengthwise division of roadway intended for a single line of vehicles
Drivers should overtake in the outside lane
- 5
A similar division of a racetrack to keep runners apart
There are eight lanes on an Olympic running track
- 6
A similar division of a swimming pool using lines of coloured floats to keep swimmers apart
a swimming lane
- 7
Any of a number of parallel tracks or passages
the checkout lanes in a supermarket
- 8
A course designated for ships or aircraft
shipping lane
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, lain or lane?
lain appears about once in every 1 million words; lane 37 times per million words.
lain about once in every 1 million wordslane 37 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).