lek

/lɛk/

//lɛk// noun

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

"lek" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lek” is uncommon English (frequency #64,492 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,492
frequency rank, English
16,425
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship and display.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lek · lek · English

lek · rank #64,492 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,492
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 16,425
  • PHOTO-FINISH Laz

Nearest frequency peer: Laz (-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 “lek”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “lek” 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 May 6, 2026
Key facts for lek
PropertyValue
Headwordlek
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/lɛk/
Letters3
Frequency rank#64,492
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “lek” 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). lek lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lek is uncommon English at frequency #64,492 among 16,425 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /lɛk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship and display.".

No misspelling variants are generated for lek in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Germanic roots meaning "play". In the biology sense, it comes specifically from Swedish lek (“child's play”), by means of Swedish leka (“to play”). The verb is first attested in English in 1871 and the noun at least as early as 1867. The correct English form is lek, spelled L-E-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship and display.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 1975, Edward O. Wilson, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, figure caption, 2000, page 333, Each of the three displaying cocks occupies a small territory at the mating center of the lek.
  2. Given that a combination of factors have "released" males from attending nests, why have some species organized their courtship bouts in leks, especially the tightly clumped leks that are typical of manakins and cocks-of-the-rock?

Etymology

From Germanic roots meaning "play". In the biology sense, it comes specifically from Swedish lek (“child's play”), by means of Swedish leka (“to play”). The verb is first attested in English in 1871 and the noun at least as early as 1867.

This word in other languages

Lek(Deutsch)

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 May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lek"?
"lek" is spelled L-E-K. The IPA pronunciation is /lɛk/.
What does "lek" mean?
As a noun, "lek" means: An aggregation of male animals for the purposes of courtship and display.
How do you pronounce "lek"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lek" is /lɛk/. 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 "lek"?
From Germanic roots meaning "play". In the biology sense, it comes specifically from Swedish lek (“child's play”), by means of Swedish leka (“to play”). The verb is first attested in English in 1871 and the noun at least as early as 1867. 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 "lek", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Laz#64,491kth#64,483JSP#64,465IRT#64,451
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