# incest

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɪn.sɛst/ · frequency rank #18,108

## Definitions
1. Sexual relations between close relatives, especially immediate family members and sometimes first cousins, usually considered taboo.
2. Romantic relationships between close relatives, also widely taboo.

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin incestus. Displaced Old English mǣġhǣmed (literally “relative-sex”). Doublet of inchaste.

## Easily confused with
- **inlet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-inlet)
- **inept** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-inept)
- **inert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-inert)
- **inset** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-inset)
- **inches** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-inches)
- **invest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-invest)
- **intent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-intent)
- **insist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-insist)
- **insert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-insert)
- **insect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-insect)
- **invent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-invent)
- **inject** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-inject)
- **infect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-infect)
- **ingest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-ingest)
- **invert** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-invert)
- **inquest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incest-vs-inquest)
- **Ince** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ince-vs-incest)
- **ices** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ices-vs-incest)
- **incase** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incase-vs-incest)
- **incense** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/incense-vs-incest)

## Common misspellings (9)
`icnest`, `inccest`, `incesst`, `incestt`, `incets`, `incset`, `inecst`, `inncest`, `nicest`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/incest