lady

/ˈleɪ.di/

//ˈleɪ.di// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"lady" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lady” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,194. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,194
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The mistress of a household.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lady · lady · English

lady · rank #1,194 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,194
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH judge

Nearest frequency peer: judge (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “lady”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “lady” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

lady vs law
50% similar
lady vs LED
0% similar
lady vs lay
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for lady
PropertyValue
Headwordlady
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈleɪ.di/
Letters4
Frequency rank#1,194
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “lady” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).ladylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “judge” (#1,193), “leader” (#1,195), “interested” (#1,192). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around lady (IPA /ˈleɪ.di/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,194 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 17 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for lady, with forms such as "aldy", "laddy", and "ladyy". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "law", "LED", "lay", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“mistress of a household, wife of a lord, lady”, literally “bread-kneader”), from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + dīġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (whence dey … The correct English form is lady, spelled L-A-D-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The mistress of a household.
  2. 2
    A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.
  3. 3
    The feminine of lord, a lordess.
  4. 4
    A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman.
  5. 5
    A title that can be used instead of the formal terms of marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness.
  6. 6
    A woman: an adult female human.
  7. 7
    A polite reference or form of address to women.
  8. 8
    Used to address a female.
  9. 9
    A wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart.
  10. 10
    A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound.
  11. 11
    A queen (the playing card).
  12. 12
    Who is a woman.
  13. 13
    Alternative form of Lady.
  14. 14
    gastric mill, the triturating apparatus in the stomach of a lobster, consisting of calcareous plates; so called from a fancied resemblance to a seated female figure.
  15. 15
    A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)
  16. 16
    A woman’s breast.
  17. 17
    A queen.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how lady appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "I would like the dining room to be fully set by tonight; would you do so?" "Yes, my lady."
  2. ‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”.[…]’.

Etymology

From Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“mistress of a household, wife of a lord, lady”, literally “bread-kneader”), from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + dīġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (whence dey (“dairymaid”)). Compare also lord. More at loaf, dairy, dough. Unrelated to lad.

This word in other languages

ama(Español)dame(Français)Hausherrin(Deutsch)ama(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aldy
  • laddy
  • ladyy
  • layd
  • lday
  • llady

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lady - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

aldy2laddy1ladyy1layd2lday2llady1
Edit distance from "lady"

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

How do you spell "lady"?
"lady" is spelled L-A-D-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈleɪ.di/.
What does "lady" mean?
As a noun, "lady" means: The mistress of a household.
What words are commonly confused with "lady"?
"lady" is commonly confused with "law", "LED", "lay". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lady"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lady" is /ˈleɪ.di/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "lady"?
From Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“mistress of a household, wife of a lord, lady”, literally “bread-kneader”), from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + dīġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (w... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lady", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

plus#1,202fear#1,184unit#1,209wide#1,177

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

annual6 variantsbrain6 variantsfloor6 variantshurt6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "lady". Here's where to go from here.

  • "lady" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "law". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #1,194 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "L" letter cohort. L–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list