grain

/ɡɹeɪn/

//ɡɹeɪn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"grain" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“grain” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,329. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,329
frequency rank, English
2,313
“G” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.

Corpus desk

Index EN-grain · grain · English

grain · rank #5,329 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,329
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,313
  • PHOTO-FINISH gospel

Nearest frequency peer: gospel (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “grain”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “grain” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

grain vs gray
60% similar
grain vs grid
60% similar
grain vs grip
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for grain
PropertyValue
Headwordgrain
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɡɹeɪn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,329
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “grain”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).grainlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “gospel” (#5,328), “grid” (#5,330), “garbage” (#5,327). Among 2,313 “G” headwords, “grain” is #5,329. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around grain (IPA /ɡɹeɪn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,329 among 2,313 “G” headwords. Wiktionary lists 19 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for grain, with forms such as "garin", "ggrain", and "grainn". 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, "gray", "grid", "grip", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao. The correct English form is grain, spelled G-R-A-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
  2. 2
    Similar seeds from any food crop, e.g., buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa.
  3. 3
    A single seed of grass food crops.
  4. 4
    The crops from which grain is harvested.
  5. 5
    A linear texture of a material or surface.
  6. 6
    A single particle of a substance.
  7. 7
    Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
  8. 8
    Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
  9. 9
    Any of various small units of mass originally notionally based on grain's weight, variously standardized at different places and times, including
  10. 10
    Any of various small units of length originally notionally based on a grain's width, variously standardized at different places and times.
  11. 11
    The carat grain of ¹⁄₄ carat as a measure of gold purity, creating a 96-point scale between 0% and 100% purity.
  12. 12
    A region within a material having a single crystal structure or direction.
  13. 13
    The solid piece of fuel in an individual solid-fuel rocket engine.
  14. 14
    A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple.
  15. 15
    The hair side of a piece of leather, or the marking on that side.
  16. 16
    The remains of grain, etc., after brewing or distillation; hence, any residuum.
  17. 17
    A rounded prominence on the back of a sepal, as in the common dock.
  18. 18
    Temper; natural disposition; inclination.
  19. 19
    Visual texture in processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how grain appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. We stored a thousand tons of grain for the winter.
  2. a grain of wheat

Etymology

From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao.

Synonyms

grain

This word in other languages

grano(Español)grain(Français)Korn(Deutsch)grão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • garin
  • ggrain
  • grainn
  • grani
  • grian
  • grrain
  • rgain

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of grain - 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.

garin2ggrain1grainn1grani2grian2grrain1rgain2
Edit distance from "grain"

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

How do you spell "grain"?
"grain" is spelled G-R-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ɡɹeɪn/.
What does "grain" mean?
As a noun, "grain" means: The harvested seeds of various grass food crops eg: wheat, corn, barley.
What words are commonly confused with "grain"?
"grain" is commonly confused with "gray", "grid", "grip". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "grain"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "grain" is /ɡɹeɪn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "grain"?
From Middle English greyn, grayn, grein, from Old French grain, grein, from Latin grānum (“seed”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”). Doublet of corn, gram, granum, and grao. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "grain", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

grows#5,331knees#5,334liver#5,337didnt#5,319

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

mines7 variantsCraig7 variantsCodes7 variantsrifle7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list