loan

/ləʊn/

//ləʊn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"loan" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“loan” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,118. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,118
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.

Corpus desk

Index EN-loan · loan · English

loan · rank #2,118 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,118
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH joke

Nearest frequency peer: joke (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “loan”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “loan” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

loan vs lot
50% similar
loan vs low
50% similar
loan vs lol
50% similar

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

Key facts for loan
PropertyValue
Headwordloan
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ləʊn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,118
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “loan”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “joke” (#2,117), “methods” (#2,119), “increasing” (#2,116). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “loan” is #2,118. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around loan (IPA /ləʊn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,118 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for loan, with forms such as "laon", "lloan", and "loann". 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, "lot", "low", "lol", 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 lone, lane, from Old Norse lán, from Proto-Germanic *laihną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave (over)”). Cognate with Icelandic lán, Swedish lån, Danish lån, German Lehen (“fief”), Dutch leen (“fief”), West Frisian lien, North … The correct English form is loan, spelled L-O-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.
  2. 2
    A sum of money or other property that a natural or legal person borrows from another with the condition that it be returned or repaid over time or at a later date (sometimes with interest).
  3. 3
    The contract and array of legal or ethical obligations surrounding a loan.
  4. 4
    The permission to borrow any item.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how loan appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Because of the loan that John made to me, I was able to pay my tuition for the upcoming semester.
  2. All loans from the library, whether books or audio material, must be returned within two weeks.

Etymology

From Middle English lone, lane, from Old Norse lán, from Proto-Germanic *laihną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave (over)”). Cognate with Icelandic lán, Swedish lån, Danish lån, German Lehen (“fief”), Dutch leen (“fief”), West Frisian lien, North Frisian leen (“fief; loan; office”), Scots lane, lain, len, Old English lǣn. More at lend.

This word in other languages

préstamo(Español)prêt(Français)Anleihe(Deutsch)empréstimo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • laon
  • lloan
  • loann
  • lona
  • olan

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of loan - 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.

laon2lloan1loann1lona2olan2
Edit distance from "loan"

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 "loan"?
"loan" is spelled L-O-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ləʊn/.
What does "loan" mean?
As a noun, "loan" means: An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.
What words are commonly confused with "loan"?
"loan" is commonly confused with "lot", "low", "lol". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "loan"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "loan" is /ləʊn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "loan"?
From Middle English lone, lane, from Old Norse lán, from Proto-Germanic *laihną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave (over)”). Cognate with Icelandic lán, Swedish lån, Danish lån, German Lehen (“fief”), Dutch leen (“fief”), West Frisian li... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "loan", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

joke#2,117hero#2,114flow#2,111soft#2,130

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

tech5 variantssuit5 variantshole5 variantsarts5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list