liege

/liːd͡ʒ/

//liːd͡ʒ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"liege" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“liege” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,862. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#30,862
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign.

Corpus desk

Index EN-liege · liege · English

liege · rank #30,862 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,862
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Leiden

Nearest frequency peer: Leiden (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “liege”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “liege” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

liege vs like
60% similar
liege vs life
60% similar
liege vs live
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for liege
PropertyValue
Headwordliege
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/liːd͡ʒ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#30,862
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “liege”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).liegelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Leiden” (#30,860), “lightsaber” (#30,864), “Langston” (#30,859). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “liege” is #30,862. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around liege (IPA /liːd͡ʒ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #30,862 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for liege, with forms such as "ilege", "leige", and "lieeg". 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, "like", "life", "live", 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 liege, lege, lige, from Anglo-Norman lige, from Old French liege (“liege, free”), from Middle High German ledic, ledec (“free, empty, vacant”) (Modern German ledig (“unmarried”)) from Proto-Germanic *liþugaz (“flexible, free, unoccupied”… The correct English form is liege, spelled L-I-E-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign.
  2. 2
    A king or lord.
  3. 3
    The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how liege appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. More health and happiness betide my liege / Than can my care-tuned tongue deliver him!
  2. Kings, my liege, may take a lesson from him

Etymology

From Middle English liege, lege, lige, from Anglo-Norman lige, from Old French liege (“liege, free”), from Middle High German ledic, ledec (“free, empty, vacant”) (Modern German ledig (“unmarried”)) from Proto-Germanic *liþugaz (“flexible, free, unoccupied”). Akin to Old Frisian leþeg, leþoch (“free”), Old English liþiġ (“flexible”), Old Norse liðugr (“free, unhindered”), Old Saxon lethig (“idle”), Low German leddig (“empty”), Middle Dutch ledich (“idle, unemployed”) (Dutch ledig (“empty”) and leeg (“empty”)), Middle English lethi (“unoccupied, at leisure”). An alternate etymology traces the Old French word to Late Latin laeticus (“of or relating to a semifree colonist in Gaul”), from Latin laetus (“a semi-free colonist”), from Gothic *𐌻𐌴𐍄𐍃 (*lēts) (attested in derivatives such as 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍄𐍃 (fralēts)), from Proto-Germanic *lētaz (“freeman; bondsman, serf”), from *lētaną (“to let; free; release”).

This word in other languages

vasallo(Español)suzerain(Français)Lehnsherr(Deutsch)senhor feudal(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ilege
  • leige
  • lieeg
  • liegge
  • ligee
  • lliege

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of liege - 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.

ilege2leige2lieeg2liegge1ligee2lliege1
Edit distance from "liege"

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

How do you spell "liege"?
"liege" is spelled L-I-E-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /liːd͡ʒ/.
What does "liege" mean?
As a noun, "liege" means: A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign.
What words are commonly confused with "liege"?
"liege" is commonly confused with "like", "life", "live". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "liege"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "liege" is /liːd͡ʒ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "liege"?
From Middle English liege, lege, lige, from Anglo-Norman lige, from Old French liege (“liege, free”), from Middle High German ledic, ledec (“free, empty, vacant”) (Modern German ledig (“unmarried”)) from Proto-Germanic *liþugaz (“flexible, free, u... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "liege", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

llama#30,868Keats#30,853Inuit#30,849Marko#30,878

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

honk6 variantsfung6 variantspomp6 variantsedema6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list