by and large
"by-and-large" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“by and large” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mostly; generally; all things considered.
Corpus desk
Index EN-by-and-large · by and large · English
by and large · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | by and large |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “by and large” in English
Rare enough to double-check
by and large is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for by and large, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From sailing: a ship may (or may not) sail well both close by the wind, and large, downwind, with sheets extended. The correct English form is by and large, spelled B-Y- -A-N-D- -L-A-R-G-E.
Definition
- 1Mostly; generally; all things considered.
- 2In one way or another.
- 3Sailing alternately into the wind and in the same direction as the wind.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how by and large appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It was, by and large, an unexceptional presentation.
“The people doing this by and large don’t have any real concept of how to tell a story, and neither do any kind of A.I.,” Ms. Williams said on Wednesday.
Etymology
From sailing: a ship may (or may not) sail well both close by the wind, and large, downwind, with sheets extended.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.