# lichen

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈlaɪ.kən/ · frequency rank #38,474

## Definitions
1. Any of many symbiotic organisms, being associations of algae and fungi, often found as white or yellow-to-blue–green patches on rocks, old walls, etc.
2. Something which gradually spreads across something else, causing damage.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Latin līchēn, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn), from λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”). Originally used of liverwort; the modern sense first recorded 1715.

## Easily confused with
- **lien** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lichen-vs-lien)
- **linen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lichen-vs-linen)
- **liven** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lichen-vs-liven)
- **liken** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lichen-vs-liken)
- **listen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lichen-vs-listen)
- **licked** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lichen-vs-licked)
- **linden** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lichen-vs-linden)
- **lighten** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lichen-vs-lighten)
- **lice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lice-vs-lichen)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ilchen`, `lcihen`, `licchen`, `licehn`, `lichenn`, `lichhen`, `lichne`, `lihcen`, `llichen`

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