# length

> English word · Noun · IPA /lɛŋ(k)θ/ · frequency rank #1,765

## Definitions
1. The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.
2. Duration.
3. The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.
4. Distance between the two ends of a line segment.
5. The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.
6. Total extent.
7. Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.
8. A penis.
9. A unit of script length, comprising 42 lines.
10. The number of cards held in a particular suit.
11. The amount of time for which the taste of wine lingers on the palate after swallowing or spitting it out, measured in caudilies.

## Etymology
From Middle English lengthe, from Old English lengþ, lengþu, from Proto-West Germanic *langiþu, from Proto-Germanic *langiþō, equivalent to long + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots lenth, lainth (“length”), Saterland Frisian Loangte (“length”), West Frisian lingte, langte (“length”), Dutch lengte (“length”), German Low German Längde, Längd, Längte, Längt (“length”), Danish længde (“length”), Swedish längd (“length”), Icelandic lengd (“length”).

## Easily confused with
- **lent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/length-vs-lent)
- **lengthy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/length-vs-lengthy)
- **lengthen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/length-vs-lengthen)
- **leigh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leigh-vs-length)
- **Leith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leith-vs-length)

## Common misspellings (10)
`elngth`, `legnth`, `lenggth`, `lenght`, `lengthh`, `lengtth`, `lenngth`, `lentgh`, `llength`, `lnegth`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/length