Lewis
/ˈluːɪs/
"lewis" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Lewis” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,112 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #3,112
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male given name from Frankish.
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 | Lewis |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈluːɪs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #3,112 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Lewis” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Lewis is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈluːɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,112 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 15 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 Lewis, with forms such as "elwis", "leiws", and "lewiss". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lis", "Luis", "Lois", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Lewis, Lowis, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French Louis, from Frankish *Hlūdawīg. Doublet of Louis. The correct English form is Lewis, spelled L-E-W-I-S.
Definition
- 1A male given name from Frankish.
- 2An English surname originating as a patronymic.
- 3The title given to a partially apprenticed Freemason who is normally the Master or Son of a practicing Freemason; one practising or learning the degrees of Freemasonry after introduction to the degrees and before full induction or before becoming a Worshipful Brother.
- 4A locale in the United States:
- 5A locale in the United States:
- 6A locale in the United States:
- 7A locale in the United States:
- 8A locale in the United States:
- 9A locale in the United States:
- 10A locale in the United States:
- 11A locale in the United States:
- 12A locale in the United States:
- 13A locale in the United States:
- 14A locale in the United States:
- 15A locale in the United States:
Etymology
From Middle English Lewis, Lowis, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French Louis, from Frankish *Hlūdawīg. Doublet of Louis.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elwis,leiws,lewiss,lewsi,lewwis,llewis,lweis
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Lewis - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “Lewis”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-W-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈluːɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “lis” - see the side-by-side comparison. Lewis vs lis
- 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.