alif

/a.lɪf/

//a.lɪf// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"alif" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alif” is uncommon English (frequency #80,174 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#80,174
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The first letter of the Arabic alphabet: ا (ʔalif).

Corpus desk

Index EN-alif · alif · English

alif · rank #80,174 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #80,174
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Allendale

Nearest frequency peer: Allendale (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “alif”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “alif” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for alif
PropertyValue
Headwordalif
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/a.lɪf/
Letters4
Frequency rank#80,174
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “alif” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).aliffalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Allendale” (#80,175), “Alfaro” (#80,171), “alcazar” (#80,170). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “alif” is #80,174. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

alif is uncommon English at frequency #80,174 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /a.lɪf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The first letter of the Arabic alphabet: ا (ʔalif).".

alif has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic أَلِف (ʔalif). Doublet of aleph and alpha. The correct English form is alif, spelled A-L-I-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    The first letter of the Arabic alphabet: ا (ʔalif).

Etymology

From Arabic أَلِف (ʔalif). Doublet of aleph and alpha.

This word in other languages

alif(Français)

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

How do you spell "alif"?
"alif" is spelled A-L-I-F. The IPA pronunciation is /a.lɪf/.
What does "alif" mean?
As a noun, "alif" means: The first letter of the Arabic alphabet: ا (ʔalif).
How do you pronounce "alif"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alif" is /a.lɪf/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "alif"?
From Arabic أَلِف (ʔalif). Doublet of aleph and alpha. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "alif", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Apus#80,195Aras#80,196yuga#80,136yips#80,133

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list