lin
/lɪn/verb, noun
lin is spelled L-I-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.3 times per million words in written English, the 9,594th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Lin, the name). As a verb, lin means “To desist, to stop, to cease” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lin?
| Letters | 3: L-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.3 times per million words; the 9,594th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lin?
Lin appears 6.3 times per million words in written English, the 9,594th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Lin, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lin?
- /lɪn/
As a noun (“Alternative form of line (“flax, linen”)”): /lɪn/, /laɪn/.
Lin has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lin.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with lin
Sounds like: linn, lyn (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with lin?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as lin.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nil.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lin
- lins present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- linning participle, present
- linned past, participle
- lan past, participle
- lun participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
ScotlandUKTo desist, to stop, to cease.
Till all war deaun I knaw thou wad not lin.
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of linn.
a roaring lin
- 2
IrelandScotlandAlternative form of line (“flax, linen”).
a lin apron, lin-break, lin-brake, a lin cap, lin-clout, lin-garn/lin-yarn, lin-man, lin-weaver/lin-webster, lin-wheel
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does lin come from?
From Middle English linnen, from Old English linnan (“to cease from, desist, lose, yield up”), from Proto-West Germanic *linnan, from Proto-Germanic *linnaną (“to turn, move aside, avoid”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley- (“to elude, avoid, shrink from”). Cognate with Danish linne (“to stop, rest”), dialectal Swedish linna (“to pause, rest”), Icelandic linna (“to stop, rest”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).