lever
/ˈliː.və/
"lever" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lever” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,271 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,271
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and mot...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lever |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈliː.və/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #12,271 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lever” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lever is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈliː.və/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,271 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for lever, with forms such as "elver", "leevr", and "leverr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "love", "live", "levy", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lever, levore, levour, from Old French leveor, leveur (“a lifter, lever (also Old French and French levier)”), from Latin levātor (“a lifter”), from levō (“to raise”). Doublet of levator. The correct English form is lever, spelled L-E-V-E-R.
Definition
- 1A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and motion.
- 2A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and motion.
- 3A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a switch or a button).
- 4A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
- 5An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.
- 6A crowbar.
Etymology
From Middle English lever, levore, levour, from Old French leveor, leveur (“a lifter, lever (also Old French and French levier)”), from Latin levātor (“a lifter”), from levō (“to raise”). Doublet of levator.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elver,leevr,leverr,levre,levver,llever,lveer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lever - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “lever”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-V-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈliː.və/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “love” - see the side-by-side comparison. lever vs love
- 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.