ala
/ˈeɪ.lə/
"ala" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ala” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #14,261) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #14,261
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A wing or winglike anatomic process or part, especially of bone.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ala · ala · English
ala · rank #14,261 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,261
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH alarming
Nearest frequency peer: alarming (+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 neighbours of confusable “ala”
Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below
- adobe
adobe
85,742 corpus weight
- ala
ala
85,740 corpus weight
- alarming
alarming
85,739 corpus weight
- Alexandra
Alexandra
85,738 corpus weight
- almond
almond
85,737 corpus weight
- amenities
amenities
85,736 corpus weight
What this shows Bars place “ala” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.
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 | ala |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈeɪ.lə/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #14,261 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Corpus rank beside confusables of “ala”
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for ala is neighbouring look-alikes ("as", "at", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈeɪ.lə/. Frequency #14,261 among 3,931 “A” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
No generated misspelling entries exist for ala in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "as", "at", "an", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Originated from 1730–40, borrowed from Latin āla (“wing”). Doublet of aisle. The correct English form is ala, spelled A-L-A.
Definition
- 1A wing or winglike anatomic process or part, especially of bone.
- 2The flattened border of some stems, fruits, and seeds, or one of the two side petals of certain flowers in the pea family.
- 3In ancient Rome, a small room opening into a larger room or courtyard.
Etymology
Originated from 1730–40, borrowed from Latin āla (“wing”). Doublet of aisle.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ala", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).