latte

/ˈlɑː.teɪ/

//ˈlɑː.teɪ// noun

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

"latte" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“latte” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #19,633) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#19,633
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A drink of coffee made from espresso and steamed milk, generally topped with foam.

Corpus desk

Index EN-latte · latte · English

latte · rank #19,633 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,633
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Labrador

Nearest frequency peer: Labrador (-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 neighbours of confusable “latte”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “latte” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

latte vs lite
60% similar
latte vs Lott
40% similar
latte vs lute
60% similar

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

Key facts for latte
PropertyValue
Headwordlatte
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈlɑː.teɪ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#19,633
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “latte”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).lattelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Labrador” (#19,632), “leafy” (#19,634), “Knoxville” (#19,631). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “latte” is #19,633. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for latte is neighbouring look-alikes ("lite", "Lott", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈlɑː.teɪ/. Frequency #19,633 among 2,297 “L” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for latte, with forms such as "altte", "latet", and "llatte". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lite", "Lott", "lute", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Ellipsis of caffè latte, from Italian caffellatte, ultimately from Latin lac, lactis. The correct English form is latte, spelled L-A-T-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A drink of coffee made from espresso and steamed milk, generally topped with foam.
  2. 2
    A similar drink, where the espresso is replaced with some other flavoring ingredient such as chai, maté or matcha (green tea).
  3. 3
    Affluent leftism.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Lilian Benedict walked into the office carrying two cups of latte.
  2. Yet in “Through a Latte, Darkly”, a new study of how Starbucks has largely avoided paying tax in Britain, Edward Kleinbard […] shows that current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate what he calls “stateless income”: […]. In Starbucks’s case, the firm has in effect turned the process of making an expensive cup of coffee into intellect…

Etymology

Ellipsis of caffè latte, from Italian caffellatte, ultimately from Latin lac, lactis.

This word in other languages

latte(Español)café au lait(Français)Milchkaffee(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • altte
  • latet
  • llatte
  • ltate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of latte - 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.

altte2latet2llatte1ltate2
Edit distance from "latte"

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 "latte"?
"latte" is spelled L-A-T-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈlɑː.teɪ/.
What does "latte" mean?
As a noun, "latte" means: A drink of coffee made from espresso and steamed milk, generally topped with foam.
What words are commonly confused with "latte"?
"latte" is commonly confused with "lite", "Lott", "lute". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "latte"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "latte" is /ˈlɑː.teɪ/. 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 "latte"?
Ellipsis of caffè latte, from Italian caffellatte, ultimately from Latin lac, lactis. 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 "latte", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

leafy#19,634Nadia#19,645incur#19,620ollie#19,649

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list