lava
/ˈlɑːvə/
"lava" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lava” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,720 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,720
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth.
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 | lava |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɑːvə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #10,720 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lava” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lava is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɑːvə/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,720 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for lava, with forms such as "laav", "lavva", and "llava". 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, "LV", "law", "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 Italian, from Neapolitan and Sicilian lava (“lava; downpour overflowing the streets”), likely from Latin lābēs (“a fall; a collapse; subsidence”); compare lābīna (“landslide”). A supposed relation with lavare (“to wash”) is now widely discredited, nor … The correct English form is lava, spelled L-A-V-A.
Definition
- 1The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth.
- 2Magma.
- 3A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.
Etymology
From Italian, from Neapolitan and Sicilian lava (“lava; downpour overflowing the streets”), likely from Latin lābēs (“a fall; a collapse; subsidence”); compare lābīna (“landslide”). A supposed relation with lavare (“to wash”) is now widely discredited, nor is there probably any relation with Arabic لابة (lāba, “black volcanic rock”). Alternatively, the Romance words are connected with Provençal lavo, lauvo (“flat stone”), from a Vulgar Latin source borrowed from a Celtic language such as Gaulish *lawā, but ultimately of obscure origin; see Proto-Celtic *līwos for details.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: laav,lavva,llava,lvaa
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lava - 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 "lava"?
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Using “lava”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-V-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɑːvə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “LV” - see the side-by-side comparison. lava vs LV
- 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.