line
/laɪn/
"line" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“line” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #306) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #306
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
Corpus desk
Index EN-line · line · English
line · rank #306 · 4 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #306
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 4 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH less
Nearest frequency peer: less (-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 “line”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- American
American
99,698 corpus weight
- later
later
99,697 corpus weight
- less
less
99,696 corpus weight
- line
line
99,695 corpus weight
- order
order
99,694 corpus weight
- party
party
99,693 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “line” 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 | line |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /laɪn/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #306 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “line” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for line is neighbouring look-alikes ("LN", "lit", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /laɪn/. Frequency #306 among 2,297 “L” headwords. 56 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for line, with forms such as "ilne", "linne", and "lline". 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, "LN", "lit", "lip", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English line, lyne, from Old English līne (“line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnā, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ (“line, rope, flaxen cord, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax, linen”), from… The correct English form is line, spelled L-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 2A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 3A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 4A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 5A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 6A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 7A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 8A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 9A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 10A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- 11A rope, cord, string, thread, or cable, of any thickness.
- 12A hose, tube, or pipe, of any size.
- 13Direction, path.
- 14A procession, either physical or conceptual, which results from the application or effect of a given rationale or other controlling principles of belief, opinion, practice, or phenomenon.
- 15The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, a telephone or internet cable between two points: a telephone or network connection.
- 16A clothesline.
- 17A letter, a written form of communication.
- 18A connected series of public conveyances, as a roadbed or railway track; and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.; a railroad line, railway line, Elizabeth Line etc.
- 19A trench or rampart, or the non-physical demarcation of the extent of the territory occupied by specified forces.
- 20The exterior limit of a figure or territory: a boundary, contour, or outline; a demarcation.
- 21A long tape or ribbon marked with units for measuring; a tape measure.
- 22A measuring line or cord.
- 23That which was measured by a line, such as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode.
- 24A threadlike crease or wrinkle marking the face, hand, or body; hence, a characteristic mark.
- 25Lineament; feature; figure (of one's body).
- 26A more-or-less straight sequence of people, objects, etc., either arranged as a queue or column and often waiting to be processed or dealt with, or arranged abreast of one another in a row (and contrasted with a column), as in a military formation.
- 27A more-or-less straight sequence of people, objects, etc., either arranged as a queue or column and often waiting to be processed or dealt with, or arranged abreast of one another in a row (and contrasted with a column), as in a military formation.
- 28The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery, etc.
- 29A series of notes forming a certain part (such as the bass or melody) of a greater work.
- 30A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; compare lineage.
- 31A small amount of text. Specifically:
- 32A small amount of text. Specifically:
- 33A small amount of text. Specifically:
- 34A small amount of text. Specifically:
- 35Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity.
- 36The official, stated position (or set of positions) of an individual or group, particularly a political or religious faction.
- 37Information about or understanding of something. (Mostly restricted to the expressions get a line on, have a line on, and give a line on.)
- 38A set of products or services sold by a business, or by extension, the business itself.
- 39A number of shares taken by a jobber.
- 40Any of an ill-defined set of units of length, varying according to the country, discipline, industry, and date of application, commonly with no indication of the intended magnitude
- 41Any of an ill-defined set of units of length, varying according to the country, discipline, industry, and date of application, commonly with no indication of the intended magnitude:
- 42Any of an ill-defined set of units of length, varying according to the country, discipline, industry, and date of application, commonly with no indication of the intended magnitude:
- 43Any of an ill-defined set of units of length, varying according to the country, discipline, industry, and date of application, commonly with no indication of the intended magnitude:
- 44Any of an ill-defined set of units of length, varying according to the country, discipline, industry, and date of application, commonly with no indication of the intended magnitude:
- 45Ellipsis of agate line (one fourteenth of an inch).
- 46A maxwell, a unit of magnetic flux.
- 47The batter's box.
- 48The position in which the fencers hold their swords.
- 49Proper relative position or adjustment (of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working).
- 50A portion or serving of a powdery recreational drug, especially cocaine, formed into a line on a flat surface in preparation for snorting.
- 51Instruction; doctrine.
- 52A population of cells derived from a single cell and containing the same genetic makeup.
- 53a set composed of a spike, a drip chamber, a clamp, a Y-injection site, a three-way stopcock and a catheter.
- 54A group of forwards that play together.
- 55A set of positions in a team which play in a similar position on the field; in a traditional team, consisting of three players and acting as one of six such sets in the team.
- 56A vascular catheter.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how line appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The arrow descended in a curved line.
St Johnstone's Liam Craig had to clear off the line before Steven Anderson sent a looping header into his own net for the equaliser on 36 minutes.
Etymology
From Middle English line, lyne, from Old English līne (“line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnā, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ (“line, rope, flaxen cord, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax, linen”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”). Influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne (“line”), from Latin linea. More at linen. The oldest sense of the word is “rope, cord, thread”; from this the senses “path”, “continuous mark” were derived.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ilne
- linne
- lline
- lnie
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of line - 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "line", not the corpus desk frequency band.
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.