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PlainSpell

ling

/lɪŋ/noun

ling is spelled L-I-N-G: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ling means “Any of various codlike saltwater fish often used as food by humans, those of the genus Molva, in the family Lotidae” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ling is lings.

How many letters and syllables are in ling?

Letters4: L-I-N-G
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.2 times per million words; the 14,731st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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 ling?

Ling appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce ling?

  • US /lɪŋ/

Ling 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--ling.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl--ling.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ling.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with ling?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ling from its last stressed vowel (/ɪŋ/):

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 ling

  • lings plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does ling mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Any of various codlike saltwater fish often used as food by humans, those of the genus Molva, in the family Lotidae.

  2. 2

    A common ling (Molva molva).

  3. 3

    Any of various varieties of heather or broom.

  4. 4

    Common heather (Calluna vulgaris)

  5. 5

    informalClipping of linguistics.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Ling in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
French-et, -ette, -in, -ine (Diminutive), lotte (Any of various marine food fish, of the genus…)
German-chen, -lein, -erl (Diminutive), Besenheide (Any of various varieties of heather or broom)
Portuguese-inho (Diminutive)
Spanish-ito, -ita, -illo, -illa (Diminutive), maruca (Any of various marine food fish, of the genus…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does ling come from?

From Middle English lenge, of Germanic origin. Cognate with Old Norse langa. Probably related to long.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after ling