lima
/ˈlaɪmə/
"lima" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lima” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #13,379) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #13,379
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Lima bean.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lima · lima · English
lima · rank #13,379 · 4 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #13,379
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 4 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH liaison
Nearest frequency peer: liaison (-1 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “lima”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- larvae
larvae
86,625 corpus weight
- Lexington
Lexington
86,624 corpus weight
- liaison
liaison
86,623 corpus weight
- lima
lima
86,622 corpus weight
- memoirs
memoirs
86,620 corpus weight
- miner
miner
86,619 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “lima” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | lima |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlaɪmə/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #13,379 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lima” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for lima is neighbouring look-alikes ("LM", "lit", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈlaɪmə/. Frequency #13,379 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Gloss: "Lima bean.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for lima, with forms such as "ilma", "limma", and "llima". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "LM", "lit", "lip", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Ellipsis of lima bean. The correct English form is lima, spelled L-I-M-A.
Definition
- 1Lima bean.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how lima appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We had limas with dinner last night.
Etymology
Ellipsis of lima bean.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ilma
- limma
- llima
- lmia
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lima - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "lima"?
What does "lima" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lima", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
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.