lactam
/ˈlækˌtæm/
"lactam" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lactam” is uncommon English (frequency #90,638 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #90,638
- frequency rank, English
- 16,425
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of a class of cyclic amides that are the nitrogen analogs of lactones, formed by heating amino acids; the tautomeric enol forms are known as lactims.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lactam |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlækˌtæm/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #90,638 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lactam” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
lactam is uncommon English at frequency #90,638 among 16,425 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈlækˌtæm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of a class of cyclic amides that are the nitrogen analogs of lactones, formed by heating amino acids; the tautomeric enol forms are known as lactims.".
lactam doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. 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: From lac(tone) + am(ide). The correct English form is lactam, spelled L-A-C-T-A-M.
Definition
- 1Any of a class of cyclic amides that are the nitrogen analogs of lactones, formed by heating amino acids; the tautomeric enol forms are known as lactims.
Etymology
From lac(tone) + am(ide).
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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Using “lactam”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-C-T-A-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlækˌtæm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.