language
/ˈlæŋɡwɪd͡ʒ/
"language" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“language” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #831 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #831
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a community and used as a form of communication.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | language |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlæŋɡwɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #831 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “language” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for language is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlæŋɡwɪd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #831 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for language, with forms such as "alnguage", "lagnuage", and "langauge". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "languages", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English langage, language, from Old French language, from Vulgar Latin *linguāticum, from Latin lingua (“tongue, speech, language”), from Old Latin dingua (“tongue”), from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“tongue, speech, language”). Doublet of … The correct English form is language, spelled L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1A body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a community and used as a form of communication.
- 2The ability to communicate using words.
- 3A sublanguage: the slang of a particular community or jargon of a particular specialist field.
- 4The specific wording or style of a text, such as a law or a contract.
- 5The expression of thought (the communication of meaning) in a specified way; that which communicates something, as language does.
- 6A body of sounds, signs or signals by which animals communicate, and by which plants are sometimes also thought to communicate.
- 7A computer language; a machine language.
- 8A manner of expression.
- 9The particular words used in a speech or a passage of text.
- 10Profanity.
Etymology
From Middle English langage, language, from Old French language, from Vulgar Latin *linguāticum, from Latin lingua (“tongue, speech, language”), from Old Latin dingua (“tongue”), from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (“tongue, speech, language”). Doublet of langaj. Displaced native Old English ġeþēode.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alnguage,lagnuage,langauge,langguage,languaeg,languagge,langugae,lannguage,lanugage,llanguage,lnaguage
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of language - 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.
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 "language"?
What does "language" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “language”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlæŋɡwɪd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “languages” - see the side-by-side comparison. language vs languages
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.