lemon drop
/ˈlɛmən dɹɒp/
Detailed reference entry for the English word "lemon-drop", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "lemon-drop" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "lemon-drop" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
The verdict
“lemon drop” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A yellow lemon-flavored and lemon-shaped candy.
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See how lemon drop compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lemon drop |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɛmən dɹɒp/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lemon drop” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lemon drop is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɛmən dɹɒp/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for lemon drop in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Arabic ليمونbor. Old French lymonbor. Middle English lymon English lemon Proto-West Germanic *dropōn Old English dropian Middle English droppen Proto-Indo-European *dʰrbʰ-néh₂- Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- Proto-Germanic *dreupaną Proto-Germa… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is lemon drop, spelled L-E-M-O-N- -D-R-O-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A yellow lemon-flavored and lemon-shaped candy.
- 2A cocktail of vodka with lemon juice and sugar.
- 3A variety of mangosteen, especially Garcinia intermedia, or sometimes the similar Garcinia madruno.
Etymology
Etymology tree Arabic ليمونbor. Old French lymonbor. Middle English lymon English lemon Proto-West Germanic *dropōn Old English dropian Middle English droppen Proto-Indo-European *dʰrbʰ-néh₂- Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- Proto-Germanic *dreupaną Proto-Germanic *druppōną Proto-Germanic *drupô Proto-West Germanic *dropō Old English dropa ▲ Middle English droppen Middle English drope ▲ Middle English droppen Middle English droppe English drop English lemon drop Literally lemon + drop. From the combination of lemon (referring to the flavor of the candy) and drop (referring to the shape of the candy, often a small, smooth, oval, or circular shape). The word lemon Inherited from Middle English lymon, from Old French lymon (“citrus”), and the word drop comes from Middle English droppe, Middle English drope (“small quantity of liquid; small amount of something; speck”), from Old English dropa (“a drop”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “lemon drop, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/lemon-drop
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Using “lemon drop”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-M-O-N- -D-R-O-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɛmən dɹɒp/ (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
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter L in our English index: