leaven
/ˈlɛv.ən/
"leaven" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“leaven” is an uncommon English word, ranked #65,258 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #65,258
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | leaven |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɛv.ən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #65,258 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “leaven” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for leaven is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɛv.ən/. Corpus data places it at rank #65,258 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 edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for leaven, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English levayn, borrowed from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, a noun based on Latin levō (“raise”). The correct English form is leaven, spelled L-E-A-V-E-N.
Definition
- 1Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
- 2Anything that induces change, especially a corrupting or vitiating change.
- 3Chametz.
Etymology
From Middle English levayn, borrowed from Old French levain, from Vulgar Latin *levāmen, a noun based on Latin levō (“raise”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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 “leaven”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-A-V-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɛv.ən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.