l
/ɛl/letter, number, noun, interjection
l is spelled L: one letter and one syllable. It appears 151 times per million words in written English, the 679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a letter, l means “The twelfth letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in l?
| Letters | 1: L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 151 times per million words; the 679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is l?
L appears 151 times per million words in written English, the 679th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce l?
- /ɛl/
- /æl/
- /l/
L has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-L.ogg, En-uk-l.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of l
- ls plural
- l's plural
- ll. plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does l mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
letter
- 1
The twelfth letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.
number
- 1
The twelfth numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.
letter
- 1
The twelfth letter of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.
number
- 1
The twelfth numeral symbol of the English alphabet, called el and written in the Latin script.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of losses (statistic).
- 2
slangAbbreviation of loss.
to take the L
- 3
slangA fail.
- 4
Alternative form of el (“elevated train”).
- 5
USAbbreviation of Libertarian.
- 6
Initialism of left.
- 7
Initialism of Latin.
- 8
Initialism of large (the manufactured size or an item of that size).
adjective
- 1
Initialism of large (of the manufactured size).
- 2
Initialism of left.
- 3
Initialism of low (variety of a language with limited prestige and official acceptance).
an L variety
- 4
slangBad, subpar, of inferior quality (abbreviation of loser). (Compare noun etymology 2, noun sense 1 and etymology 2, noun sense 2.)
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of litre or liter.
- 2
Abbreviation of Latinlibra (“pound (sterling)”).
- 3
Abbreviation of leaf.
- 4
Abbreviation of line.
- 5
Abbreviation of loss/lose.
interjection
- 1
Clipping of lol.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).