lion
/ˈlaɪən/
"lion" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lion” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #4,686) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #4,686
- frequency rank, English
- 16,425
- “L” headwords
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lion · lion · English
lion · rank #4,686 · 3 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #4,686
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 3 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 16,425
- PHOTO-FINISH li
Nearest frequency peer: li (-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 “lion”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- jumped
jumped
95,318 corpus weight
- khan
khan
95,317 corpus weight
- li
li
95,316 corpus weight
- lion
lion
95,315 corpus weight
- loaded
loaded
95,314 corpus weight
- lonely
lonely
95,313 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “lion” 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 | lion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlaɪən/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #4,686 |
| Misspellings tracked | 3 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lion” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for lion is neighbouring look-alikes ("lo", "LN", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈlaɪən/. Frequency #4,686 among 16,425 “L” headwords. 8 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for lion, with forms such as "ilon", "lionn", and "llion". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lo", "LN", "lot", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lyoun, lion, leon, borrowed from Old French lion, from Latin leō, (accusative: leōnem), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), of unclear origin. Doublet of Leo, leu, lev, and Lyon. Displaced Old English lēo, from the same Latin source. The correct English form is lion, spelled L-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
- 2A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
- 3Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.
- 4A Chinese foo dog.
- 5A person who shows attributes associated with the lion, such as strength, courage, or ferocity.
- 6A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.
- 7A light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.
- 8An old Scottish coin, with a lion on the obverse, worth 74 shillings.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how lion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Tigers and lions share a common ancestor from a few million years ago.
For with ſuch puiſſance and impetuous maine / Thoſe Champions broke on them, that forſt the fly, / Like ſcattered Sheepe, whenas the Shepherds ſwaine / A Lyon and a Tigre doth eſpye, / With greedy pace forth ruſhing from the foreſt nye.
Etymology
From Middle English lyoun, lion, leon, borrowed from Old French lion, from Latin leō, (accusative: leōnem), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), of unclear origin. Doublet of Leo, leu, lev, and Lyon. Displaced Old English lēo, from the same Latin source.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ilon
- lionn
- llion
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lion - 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.
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 May 6, 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 "lion", 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.