Ili
"ili" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Ili” is uncommon English (frequency #61,553 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #61,553
- frequency rank, English
- 2,140
- “I” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An automonous prefecture in Northern Xinjiang autonomous region, China.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ili · Ili · English
Ili · rank #61,553 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #61,553
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,140
- PHOTO-FINISH imperfectly
Nearest frequency peer: imperfectly (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “Ili”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- icl
icl
38,451 corpus weight
- iconoclastic
iconoclastic
38,450 corpus weight
- Ili
Ili
38,448 corpus weight
- imperfectly
imperfectly
38,447 corpus weight
- inauthentic
inauthentic
38,446 corpus weight
- incontinent
incontinent
38,445 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “Ili” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Ili |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #61,553 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “Ili” in English
Rare enough to double-check
Ili is uncommon English at frequency #61,553 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for Ili in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Russian Или (Ili) and Uyghur ئىلى (ili), usually taken to derive from Mongolian. The correct English form is Ili, spelled I-L-I.
Definition
- 1An automonous prefecture in Northern Xinjiang autonomous region, China.
- 2A river situated in Xinjiang of north-western China and south-eastern Kazakhstan.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Ili appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Practically speaking, Yakoob Beg was safe from invasion from the east so long as he maintained order within his own frontier and the Tungani in Ili on his north had manifested no special hostility against his state.
Once the Russians had moved into Ili, it was not so easy for the Chinese to oust them from the region. A preliminary Sino-Russian treaty in 1879 gave Russia valuable parts of the region, an indemnity for occupation costs, and commercial privileges, but this treaty was denounced by the Peking Government. Finally, in 1881, a treaty settling the problem was…
Etymology
From Russian Или (Ili) and Uyghur ئىلى (ili), usually taken to derive from Mongolian.
Synonyms
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 "Ili", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).