limes
/ˈlʌɪmiːz/
"limes" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“limes” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,961 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #34,961
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A boundary or border, especially of the Roman Empire.
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 | limes |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlʌɪmiːz/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #34,961 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “limes” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for limes is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlʌɪmiːz/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,961 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A boundary or border, especially of the Roman Empire.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for limes, with forms such as "ilmes", "liems", and "limess". 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, "lis", "live", "line", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin līmes. Doublet of limit. The correct English form is limes, spelled L-I-M-E-S.
Definition
- 1A boundary or border, especially of the Roman Empire.
Etymology
From Latin līmes. Doublet of limit.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ilmes,liems,limess,limmes,limse,llimes,lmies
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of limes - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “limes”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-I-M-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlʌɪmiːz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “lis” - see the side-by-side comparison. limes vs lis
- 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.