lis

noun

"lis" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lis” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,822 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#25,822
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Clipping of fleur-de-lis.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

lis vs Lt
0% similar
lis vs lo
33% similar
lis vs LP
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for lis
PropertyValue
Headwordlis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters3
Frequency rank#25,822
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “lis” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). lis lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for lis is 3 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #25,822 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Clipping of fleur-de-lis.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for lis in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Lt", "lo", "LP", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is lis, spelled L-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Clipping of fleur-de-lis.

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

How do you spell "lis"?
"lis" is spelled L-I-S.
What does "lis" mean?
As a noun, "lis" means: Clipping of fleur-de-lis.
What words are commonly confused with "lis"?
"lis" is commonly confused with "Lt", "lo", "LP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "lis" come from?
"lis" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “lis”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-I-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “Lt” - see the side-by-side comparison. lis vs Lt
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list