akin
/əˈkɪn/
"akin" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“akin” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #11,160) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #11,160
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of persons, of the same kin; related by blood.
Corpus desk
Index EN-akin · akin · English
akin · rank #11,160 · 4 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #11,160
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 4 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH AFC
Nearest frequency peer: AFC (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “akin”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- accumulated
accumulated
88,844 corpus weight
- adore
adore
88,843 corpus weight
- AFC
AFC
88,842 corpus weight
- akin
akin
88,841 corpus weight
- alphabet
alphabet
88,840 corpus weight
- appoint
appoint
88,838 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “akin” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | akin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˈkɪn/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #11,160 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “akin” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for akin is neighbouring look-alikes ("an", "Ann", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /əˈkɪn/. Frequency #11,160 among 3,931 “A” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for akin, with forms such as "aikn", "akinn", and "akkin". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "an", "Ann", "Ali", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From a corruption of of kin, from Middle English of kyn (“related, of kin”), equivalent to a- + kin (1550s). Compare Old English cyn, cynn (“akin, proper, suitable”, adj.). The correct English form is akin, spelled A-K-I-N.
Definition
- 1Of persons, of the same kin; related by blood.
- 2Allied by nature; similar; partaking of the same properties; of the same kind.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how akin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[W]e are too near a kin to lye together, tho' vve may Lodge near one another; […]
The faces changed, passing in rotation. Youthful faces, bearded faces, dark faces: faces serene, or faces moody, but all akin with the brotherhood of the sea.
Etymology
From a corruption of of kin, from Middle English of kyn (“related, of kin”), equivalent to a- + kin (1550s). Compare Old English cyn, cynn (“akin, proper, suitable”, adj.).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- aikn
- akinn
- akkin
- akni
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of akin - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "akin", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "akin". Here's where to go from here.
- "akin" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "an". View pair
- 4 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #11,160 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "A" letter cohort. A–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.