leat

/liːt/

//liːt// noun

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

"leat" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“leat” is uncommon English (frequency #99,490 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#99,490
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An artificial watercourse, canal, or aqueduct, but especially a millrace.

Corpus desk

Index EN-leat · leat · English

leat · rank #99,490 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #99,490
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Leadenhall

Nearest frequency peer: Leadenhall (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “leat”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “leat” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for leat
PropertyValue
Headwordleat
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/liːt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#99,490
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “leat” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).leatfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Leadenhall” (#99,489), “Lebaron” (#99,491), “Lehane” (#99,493). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “leat” is #99,490. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

leat is uncommon English at frequency #99,490 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /liːt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An artificial watercourse, canal, or aqueduct, but especially a millrace.".

No misspelling variants are generated for leat in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Probably from Middle English lete (“a meeting or intersection of roads; junction; crossroads; conduit”), from Old English ġelǣte (“a going out, ending, meeting”), as in Old English wæterġelǣt (“watercourse, aquaduct”), from Proto-Germanic *lētą, *galētą (“a… The correct English form is leat, spelled L-E-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    An artificial watercourse, canal, or aqueduct, but especially a millrace.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. His paws rested on a sunken branch. The water moved down, clouded with the mud-stirrings of the leat. He lay so still that the trout returned to their stances beside the stone sterlings.

Etymology

Probably from Middle English lete (“a meeting or intersection of roads; junction; crossroads; conduit”), from Old English ġelǣte (“a going out, ending, meeting”), as in Old English wæterġelǣt (“watercourse, aquaduct”), from Proto-Germanic *lētą, *galētą (“a letting, a letting out”). Cognate with Old High German gilāz (“outlet, exit, end, road junction”), German Gelaß (“back room, recess, private chamber”). Related to English let.

This word in other languages

levada(Português)

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 "leat"?
"leat" is spelled L-E-A-T. The IPA pronunciation is /liːt/.
What does "leat" mean?
As a noun, "leat" means: An artificial watercourse, canal, or aqueduct, but especially a millrace.
How do you pronounce "leat"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "leat" is /liːt/. 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 "leat"?
Probably from Middle English lete (“a meeting or intersection of roads; junction; crossroads; conduit”), from Old English ġelǣte (“a going out, ending, meeting”), as in Old English wæterġelǣt (“watercourse, aquaduct”), from Proto-Germanic *lētą, *... 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 "leat", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

larg#99,482Lyng#99,521jiva#99,428Hobb#99,363

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list