lease

/liːs/

//liːs// noun

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

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

The verdict

“lease” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,432. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,432
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lease · lease · English

lease · rank #5,432 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,432
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH layers

Nearest frequency peer: layers (-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 neighbourhood for “lease”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “lease” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

lease vs lee
60% similar
lease vs les
60% similar
lease vs less
60% similar

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

Key facts for lease
PropertyValue
Headwordlease
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/liːs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,432
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “lease” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).lease lands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around lease (IPA /liːs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,432 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for lease, with forms such as "elase", "laese", and "leaes". 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, "lee", "les", "less", 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 *lesen, from Anglo-Norman *leser, Old French lesser, laisier (“to let, let go”), partly from Latin laxō (“to loose”) and partly from Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, release”) (German lassen), cognate with Old English lǣtan (“to a… The correct English form is lease, spelled L-E-A-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold.
  2. 2
    An interest granting exclusive use of any thing, such as a car or boat.
  3. 3
    The contract or deed under which such an interest is granted.
  4. 4
    The document containing such a contract or deed.
  5. 5
    The period of such an interest.
  6. 6
    The temporary assignment of an IP address to a networked device.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Etymology

From Middle English *lesen, from Anglo-Norman *leser, Old French lesser, laisier (“to let, let go”), partly from Latin laxō (“to loose”) and partly from Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, release”) (German lassen), cognate with Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, leave, rent”) whence let.

Synonyms

tenancyletting

This word in other languages

arrendamiento(Español)bail(Français)Pacht(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • elase
  • laese
  • leaes
  • leasse
  • lesae
  • llease

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lease - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

elase2laese2leaes2leasse1lesae2llease1
Edit distance from "lease"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lease"?
"lease" is spelled L-E-A-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /liːs/.
What does "lease" mean?
As a noun, "lease" means: An interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold.
What words are commonly confused with "lease"?
"lease" is commonly confused with "lee", "les", "less". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lease"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lease" is /liːs/. 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 "lease"?
From Middle English *lesen, from Anglo-Norman *leser, Old French lesser, laisier (“to let, let go”), partly from Latin laxō (“to loose”) and partly from Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, release”) (German lassen), cognate with Old English lǣ... 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 "lease", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Keith#5,429Jamie#5,427genre#5,418fires#5,417

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

lens6 variantsKent6 variantsbless6 variantsbeds6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "lease". Here's where to go from here.

  • "lease" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "lee". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #5,432 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "L" letter cohort. L–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list