gain
/ɡeɪn/
"gain" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gain” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,636. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,636
- frequency rank, English
- 18,276
- “G” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To acquire possession of.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gain · gain · English
gain · rank #1,636 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,636
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 18,276
- PHOTO-FINISH foundation
Nearest frequency peer: foundation (-1 rank slots)
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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “gain”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- ex
ex
98,368 corpus weight
- follows
follows
98,367 corpus weight
- foundation
foundation
98,366 corpus weight
- gain
gain
98,365 corpus weight
- HTTP
HTTP
98,364 corpus weight
- individuals
individuals
98,363 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “gain” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | gain |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɡeɪn/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #1,636 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gain” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around gain (IPA /ɡeɪn/), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,636 among 18,276 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for gain, with forms such as "agin", "gainn", and "gani". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "gi", "gas", "gun", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English gayn, gain, gein (“profit, advantage”), from Old Norse gagn (“benefit, advantage, use”), from Proto-Germanic *gagną, *gaganą (“gain, profit", literally "return”), from Proto-Germanic *gagana (“back, against, in return”), a reduplication … The correct English form is gain, spelled G-A-I-N.
Definition
- 1To acquire possession of.
- 2To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
- 3To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.
- 4To increase.
- 5To grow more likely to catch or overtake someone.
- 6To reach.
- 7To draw into any interest or party; to win to one’s side; to conciliate.
- 8To put on weight.
- 9To run fast.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how gain appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Looks like you’ve gained a new friend.
What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Etymology
From Middle English gayn, gain, gein (“profit, advantage”), from Old Norse gagn (“benefit, advantage, use”), from Proto-Germanic *gagną, *gaganą (“gain, profit", literally "return”), from Proto-Germanic *gagana (“back, against, in return”), a reduplication of Proto-Germanic *ga- (“with, together”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“next to, at, with, along”). Cognate with Icelandic gagn (“gain, advantage, use”), Swedish gagn (“benefit, profit”), Danish gavn (“gain, profit, success”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌴𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (gageigan, “to gain, profit”), Old Norse gegn (“ready”), dialectal Swedish gen (“useful, noteful”), Latin cum (“with”); see gain-, again, against. Compare also Middle English gaynen, geinen (“to be of use, profit, avail”), Icelandic and Swedish gagna (“to avail, help”), Danish gavne (“to benefit”). The Middle English word was reinforced by Middle French gain (“gain, profit, advancement, cultivation”), from Old French gaaing, gaaigne, gaigne, a noun derivative of gaaignier, gaigner (“to till, earn, win”), from Frankish *waiþanōn (“to pasture, graze, hunt for food”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waiþiz, *waiþō, *waiþijō (“pasture, field, hunting ground”); compare Old High German weidōn, weidanōn (“to hunt, forage for food”) (Modern German Weide (“pasture”)), Old Norse veiða (“to catch, hunt”), Old English wǣþan (“to hunt, chase, pursue”). Related to wide.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- agin
- gainn
- gani
- ggain
- gian
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of gain - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "gain", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
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.