laver
/ˈlɑːvə/
"laver" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“laver” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #49,457 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #49,457
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A red alga/seaweed, Porphyra umbilicalis (syn. Porphyra laciniata), eaten as a vegetable.
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 | laver |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɑːvə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #49,457 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “laver” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for laver is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɑːvə/. Corpus data places it at rank #49,457 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 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for laver, with forms such as "alver", "laevr", and "laverr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "love", "live", "leer", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English laver, lavre, lever, levre, laber (“a kind of water plant”), from Old English læfer, leber (“a rush (plant)”), a borrowing from Latin laver (“water plant”). The correct English form is laver, spelled L-A-V-E-R.
Definition
- 1A red alga/seaweed, Porphyra umbilicalis (syn. Porphyra laciniata), eaten as a vegetable.
- 2Other seaweeds similar in appearance or use, especially
- 3Other seaweeds similar in appearance or use, especially:
Etymology
From Middle English laver, lavre, lever, levre, laber (“a kind of water plant”), from Old English læfer, leber (“a rush (plant)”), a borrowing from Latin laver (“water plant”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: alver,laevr,laverr,lavre,lavver,llaver,lvaer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of laver - 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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Using “laver”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-V-E-R - 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 “love” - see the side-by-side comparison. laver vs love
- 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.