allege
/əˈlɛd͡ʒ/
"allege" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“allege” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,884 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #22,884
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To state under oath, to plead.
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 | allege |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈlɛd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #22,884 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “allege” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for allege is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈlɛd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,884 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for allege, with forms such as "alege", "alelge", and "alleeg". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "Allen", "alley", "Allie", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English aleggen, perhaps from Old French alleguer, or from Anglo-Norman aleger, the form perhaps from Old French esligier (“to acquit”), from Medieval Latin *exlītigāre (“to clear at law”), from Latin ex (“out”) + lītigō (“sue at law”), but the … The correct English form is allege, spelled A-L-L-E-G-E.
Definition
- 1To state under oath, to plead.
- 2To cite or quote an author or his work for or against.
- 3To adduce (something) as a reason, excuse, support etc.
- 4To make a claim as justification or proof; to make an assertion without proof.
Etymology
From Middle English aleggen, perhaps from Old French alleguer, or from Anglo-Norman aleger, the form perhaps from Old French esligier (“to acquit”), from Medieval Latin *exlītigāre (“to clear at law”), from Latin ex (“out”) + lītigō (“sue at law”), but the meaning from Old French alleguer, from Latin allēgāre (“send on a mission, depute; relate, mention, adduce”), from ad (“to”) + lēgō (“send”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alege,alelge,alleeg,allegge,allgee,lalege
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of allege - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Using “allege”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-L-L-E-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈlɛd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Allen” - see the side-by-side comparison. allege vs Allen
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.