# lain vs lean

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### lain
*verb · IPA /leɪn/ · frequency rank #34,154*
past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)

### lean
*verb · IPA /liːn/ · frequency rank #5,705*
To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lain-vs-lean