lather
/ˈlɑː.ðə/
"lather" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lather” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,777. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #40,777
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lather · lather · English
lather · rank #40,777 · 9 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #40,777
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH lapped
Nearest frequency peer: lapped (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “lather”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Landers
Landers
59,227 corpus weight
- Lansdowne
Lansdowne
59,226 corpus weight
- lapped
lapped
59,225 corpus weight
- lather
lather
59,224 corpus weight
- leaching
leaching
59,223 corpus weight
- ledges
ledges
59,222 corpus weight
What this shows “lather” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | lather |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɑː.ðə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #40,777 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “lather”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around lather (IPA /ˈlɑː.ðə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #40,777 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for lather, with forms such as "alther", "lahter", and "latehr". 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, "layer", "liter", "latte", 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 lather, from Old English lēaþor (“a kind of nitre used for soap, soda”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauþr, from Proto-Germanic *lauþrą (“that which is used for washing, soap”), from Proto-Indo-European *lówh₃trom (“that which is used for … The correct English form is lather, spelled L-A-T-H-E-R.
Definition
- 1The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water.
- 2Foam from profuse sweating, as of a horse.
- 3A state of agitation.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how lather appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.
Etymology
From Middle English lather, from Old English lēaþor (“a kind of nitre used for soap, soda”), from Proto-West Germanic *lauþr, from Proto-Germanic *lauþrą (“that which is used for washing, soap”), from Proto-Indo-European *lówh₃trom (“that which is used for washing”), from *lewh₃-, *lowh₃- (“to wash, bathe”). Cognate with Swedish lödder (“lather, foam, froth, soap”), Icelandic löður (“foam, froth, a kind of niter used for soap”), Old Irish loathar (“wash-basin”), Ancient Greek λουτρόν (loutrón, “a bath, wash-room”), Latin lavō (“I wash”), Albanian laj (“I wash”), Ancient Greek λούω (loúō). More at lye.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- alther
- lahter
- latehr
- latherr
- lathher
- lathre
- latther
- llather
- ltaher
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lather - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "lather", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).