labial
/ˈleɪ.bi.əl/
"labial" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“labial” is uncommon English (frequency #59,495 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #59,495
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.
Corpus desk
Index EN-labial · labial · English
labial · rank #59,495 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #59,495
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH Kwong
Nearest frequency peer: Kwong (-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 “labial”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- kike
kike
40,510 corpus weight
- Kiowa
Kiowa
40,509 corpus weight
- Kock
Kock
40,508 corpus weight
- Kwong
Kwong
40,507 corpus weight
- labial
labial
40,506 corpus weight
- Landsat
Landsat
40,503 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “labial” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | labial |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈleɪ.bi.əl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #59,495 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “labial” in English
Rare enough to double-check
labial is uncommon English at frequency #59,495 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈleɪ.bi.əl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for labial, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowing from Medieval Latin labiālis (“of or pertaining to the lips”), from labium (“a lip”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to labium + -al. The correct English form is labial, spelled L-A-B-I-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.
- 2Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.
- 3On the side facing the lips. See mesial.
- 4Furnished with lips.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how labial appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The wound that does not kill Christ is the magical labial wound; it is the seal of the resurrection and an expression of the myth of eternal recurrence.
a labial organ pipe
Etymology
Borrowing from Medieval Latin labiālis (“of or pertaining to the lips”), from labium (“a lip”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to labium + -al.
This word in other languages
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 "labial", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).