lace
/leɪs/noun, verb
lace is spelled L-A-C-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lace means “A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lace is laces.
How many letters and syllables are in lace?
| Letters | 4: L-A-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.6 times per million words; the 9,313th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lace?
Lace appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th 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 lace?
- US /leɪs/
Lace 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-lace.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with lace?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lace from its last stressed vowel (/eɪs/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: alec, acle, alce.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lace
- laces plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- lacing participle, present
- laced participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lace mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread.
- 2
A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly.
your laces are untied, do them up!
- 3
A snare or gin, especially one made of interwoven cords; a net.
- 4
obsoleteslangSpirits added to coffee or another beverage.
verb
- 1
To fasten (something) with laces.
- 2
To interweave items.
to lace one's fingers together
- 3
To interweave the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
- 4
To beat; to lash; to make stripes on.
- 5
To adorn with narrow strips or braids of some decorative material.
cloth laced with silver
- 6
To intersperse or diversify with something.
- 7
To add alcohol, poison, a drug or anything else potentially harmful to (food or drink).
- 8
To cover intricately with bands, strips, or the like, so as to resemble a lace.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lace in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dentelle , lacer |
| German | Spitze , schnüren, binden, zusammenbinden, flechten, verflechten |
| Portuguese | renda , enlaçar, laçar , envenenar |
| Spanish | encaje, blonda, puntilla , envenenar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lace come from?
From Middle English lace, laace, las, from Old French las, from Vulgar Latin *laceum, based on Latin laqueus. Doublet of lasso.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).