glean
/ɡliːn/
"glean" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“glean” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,264. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #40,264
- frequency rank, English
- 2,313
- “G” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To collect (fruit, grain, or other produce) from a field, an orchard, etc., after the main gathering or harvest.
Corpus desk
Index EN-glean · glean · English
glean · rank #40,264 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #40,264
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,313
- PHOTO-FINISH glandular
Nearest frequency peer: glandular (-2 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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “glean”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- gelding
gelding
59,743 corpus weight
- glandular
glandular
59,739 corpus weight
- glean
glean
59,737 corpus weight
- GLO
GLO
59,735 corpus weight
- Golding
Golding
59,734 corpus weight
- Greenspan
Greenspan
59,732 corpus weight
What this shows “glean” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | glean |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɡliːn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #40,264 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “glean”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around glean (IPA /ɡliːn/), averb. Corpus frequency is #40,264 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for glean, with forms such as "gelan", "gglean", and "gleann". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "glen", "glee", "Gwen", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reapers), glean; to gather (things) together, collect”), from Old French glener, glainer (modern French glaner (“to gather, glean”)), from Late Latin glen(n)are, the pre… The correct English form is glean, spelled G-L-E-A-N.
Definition
- 1To collect (fruit, grain, or other produce) from a field, an orchard, etc., after the main gathering or harvest.
- 2To collect fruit, grain, or other produce from (a field, an orchard, etc.), after the main gathering or harvest.
- 3To gather (something, now chiefly something intangible such as experience or information) in small amounts over a period of time, often with some difficulty; to scrape together.
- 4To take away (someone's) possessions; to strip (someone) bare.
- 5Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking (prey, mainly arthropods such as insects) from various places.
- 6To collect or gather (things) into one mass.
- 7To cut off (straggling soldiers separated from their units) during a conflict; to isolate.
- 8To collect fruit, grain, or other produce after the main gathering or harvest.
- 9Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking prey, mainly arthropods such as insects, from various places.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how glean appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
So holy, and ſo perfect is my loue, / And I in ſuch a pouerty of grace, / That I ſhall thinke it a moſt plenteous crop / To gleane the broken eares after the man / That the maine harueſt reapes: […]
And Ruth the Moabiteſſe ſaide vnto Naomi, Let me now goe to the field, and gleane eares of corne after him, in whoſe ſight I ſhall finde grace.
Etymology
The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reapers), glean; to gather (things) together, collect”), from Old French glener, glainer (modern French glaner (“to gather, glean”)), from Late Latin glen(n)are, the present active infinitive of glen(n)ō (“to make a collection”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *glanos (“clean; clear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- (“to glow, shine; to be glowing or shining”). The noun is derived from Late Middle English glene (“collection of heads of grain gathered by gleaning; head of grain”), from Old French glene, glane (“act of gleaning; legal right to glean”) (modern French glane (“act of gleaning”)), from glener, glainer (verb): see above. cognates * Medieval Latin glana, glena (“bundle of ears of grain”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- gelan
- gglean
- gleann
- glena
- gllean
- lgean
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of glean - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "glean", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).