light
/laɪt/
"light" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“light” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #467 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #467
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye (about 400–750 nanometers): visible light.
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 | light |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /laɪt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #467 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “light” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for light is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /laɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #467 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 20 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for light, with forms such as "ilght", "lgiht", and "ligght". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "lit", "list", "lint", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der. Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz Proto-West Germanic *leuht Old English lēoht Middle English light English light From Middle English light, liht, leoht, from Old English lēoht, from Proto-West Germanic *leuht, from Proto… The correct English form is light, spelled L-I-G-H-T.
Definition
- 1Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye (about 400–750 nanometers): visible light.
- 2Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye or in nearby ranges (infrared or ultraviolet radiation).
- 3Electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength.
- 4A source of illumination.
- 5A source of illumination.
- 6A source of illumination.
- 7Spiritual or mental illumination; enlightenment, useful information.
- 8Facts; pieces of information; ideas, concepts.
- 9A notable person within a specific field or discipline.
- 10The manner in which the light strikes a picture; that part of a picture which represents those objects upon which the light is supposed to fall; the more illuminated part of a landscape or other scene; opposed to shade.
- 11A point of view, or aspect from which a concept, person or thing is regarded.
- 12A flame or something used to create fire.
- 13A flame or something used to create fire.
- 14A firework made by filling a case with a substance which burns brilliantly with a white or coloured flame.
- 15A window in architecture, carriage design, or motor car design: either the opening itself or the window pane of glass that fills it, if any.
- 16The series of squares reserved for the answer to a crossword clue.
- 17A cross-light in a double acrostic or triple acrostic.
- 18Open view; a visible state or condition; public observation; publicity.
- 19The power of perception by vision: eyesight (sightedness; vision).
- 20The brightness of the eye or eyes.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lewk-der. Proto-Germanic *leuhtaz Proto-West Germanic *leuht Old English lēoht Middle English light English light From Middle English light, liht, leoht, from Old English lēoht, from Proto-West Germanic *leuht, from Proto-Germanic *leuhtą, from Proto-Indo-European *lewktom, from the root *lewk- (“to shine”). Cognates * Scots licht (“light”) * Saterland Frisian Ljoacht, Lucht (“light”) * West Frisian ljocht (“light”) * Dutch licht (“light”) * German Licht (“light”) * German Low German Licht (“light”) * Limburgish Leech, Leet, Léït (“light”) * Luxembourgish Liicht (“light”) * Vilamovian łicht (“light”) * Yiddish ליכט (likht, “light”) * Danish, Norwegian Bokmål lys (“light”) * Elfdalian liuos (“light”) * Faroese, Icelandic ljós (“light”) * Norwegian Nynorsk ljos, ljus, lys (“light”) * Swedish ljus (“light”) * Latin lūx (“light”) * Russian луч (luč, “beam of light”) * Armenian լույս (luys, “light”) * Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) * Persian رُخش (roxš).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ilght,lgiht,ligght,lighht,lightt,ligth,lihgt,llight
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of light - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “light”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-I-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /laɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “lit” - see the side-by-side comparison. light vs lit
- 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.