# chain

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈt͡ʃeɪn/ · frequency rank #2,244

## Definitions
1. A series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal.
2. A series of interconnected things.
3. A series of stores or businesses with the same brand name.
4. A number of atoms in a series, which combine to form a molecule.
5. A series of interconnected links of known length, used as a measuring device.
6. A long measuring tape.
7. A unit of length, exactly equal to 22 yards, which is 4 rods or 100 links, and approximately equal to 20.12 metres; the length of a Gunter's surveying chain; the length of a cricket pitch.
8. A totally ordered set, especially a totally ordered subset of a poset.
9. A formal sum of cells in a CW complex of a certain dimension k (in which case the formal sums are called k'''-chains); a formal sum of simplices or cubes of a certain dimension in a simplical complex or cubical complex (respectively).
10. An element of a group (or module) in a chain complex.
11. A sequence of linked house purchases, each of which is dependent on the preceding and succeeding purchase (said to be "broken" if a buyer or seller pulls out).
12. That which confines, fetters, or secures; a bond.
13. Iron links bolted to the side of a vessel to bold the dead-eyes connected with the shrouds; also, the channels.
14. A livery collar, a chain of office.
15. The warp threads of a web.

## Etymology
From Middle English cheyne, chaine, from Old French chaine, chaene (“chain”), from Latin catēna (“chain”), from Proto-Indo-European *kat- (“to braid, twist; hut, shed”). Doublet of catena. Displaced native Middle English rakil and rakent (from Old English racente (“chain”)); see rackan.

## Easily confused with
- **chi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chi)
- **chat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chat)
- **chip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chip)
- **coin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-coin)
- **chan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chan)
- **chin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chin)
- **clan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-clan)
- **Chen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chen)
- **chic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chic)
- **chap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chap)
- **Choi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-choi)
- **char** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-char)
- **Chun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chun)
- **Chao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chao)
- **chia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chia)
- **chit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chit)
- **Chas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chas)
- **Chiu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chiu)
- **Chaz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-chaz)
- **cham** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chain-vs-cham)

## Common misspellings (6)
`cahin`, `cchain`, `chainn`, `chani`, `chhain`, `hcain`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/chain