Lieut.

noun

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

The verdict

“Lieut.” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative spelling of Lieut.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lieut · Lieut. · English

Lieut. · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for Lieut.
PropertyValue
HeadwordLieut.
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Lieut.” in English

Lieut.ranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Lieut. is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Alternative spelling of Lieut.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Lieut., which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is Lieut., spelled L-I-E-U-T-..

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of Lieut.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. I had previously read the entire testimony before Senator Dodd’s Subcommittee and was thoroughly familiar with the testimony of Chief Parker, Lieut. Kennedy, Capt. Colwell, and Capt. Collins.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Lieut."?
"Lieut." is spelled L-I-E-U-T-..
What does "Lieut." mean?
As a noun, "Lieut." means: Alternative spelling of Lieut.
What language does "Lieut." come from?
"Lieut." is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list