fain
/feɪn/
"fain" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fain” is an uncommon English word, ranked #50,503 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #50,503
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fain |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /feɪn/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #50,503 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fain” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fain is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /feɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #50,503 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for fain in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fain (“enjoyable, pleasing; fond of; glad, pleased; good, suitable; happy, joyful”), from Old English fægen (“happy, joyful, fain”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagan (“glad”), from Proto-Germanic *faganaz (“glad”), from Proto-Indo-Europea… The correct English form is fain, spelled F-A-I-N.
Definition
- 1Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased.
- 2Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased.
- 3Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased.
- 4Chiefly followed by to, or (obsolete) for or of: eager or willing, or inclined.
- 5Favourable, well-disposed.
- 6Accustomed, apt, wont.
Etymology
From Middle English fain (“enjoyable, pleasing; fond of; glad, pleased; good, suitable; happy, joyful”), from Old English fægen (“happy, joyful, fain”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagan (“glad”), from Proto-Germanic *faganaz (“glad”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“joyful; pretty”). Cognates * Old Norse fagna (“to rejoice”), feginn (“glad, joyful”) * Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (faginōn, “to rejoice”) * Old High German fehan, gifehan (“to rejoice”) * Old Saxon fagan, fagin
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 “fain”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-A-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /feɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.