distraint

noun

"distraint" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“distraint” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The legal right of a landlord to seize the property of a tenant in the event of nonpayment of rent.

Corpus desk

Index EN-distraint · distraint · English

distraint · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" 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.

Key facts for distraint
PropertyValue
Headworddistraint
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “distraint” sits in English frequency

distraintranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

distraint is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The legal right of a landlord to seize the property of a tenant in the event of nonpayment of rent.".

distraint doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From distrain, on the model of such pairs as constrain, constraint and restrain, restraint. The correct English form is distraint, spelled D-I-S-T-R-A-I-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The legal right of a landlord to seize the property of a tenant in the event of nonpayment of rent.

Etymology

From distrain, on the model of such pairs as constrain, constraint and restrain, restraint.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "distraint"?
"distraint" is spelled D-I-S-T-R-A-I-N-T.
What does "distraint" mean?
As a noun, "distraint" means: The legal right of a landlord to seize the property of a tenant in the event of nonpayment of rent.
What is the origin of the word "distraint"?
From distrain, on the model of such pairs as constrain, constraint and restrain, restraint. 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.

What to do next

You've looked up "distraint". Here's where to go from here.

  • Browse more English words in the "D" letter cohort. D–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list