lodestone
/ˈloʊdˌstoʊn/
"lodestone" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lodestone” is uncommon English (frequency #97,248 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #97,248
- frequency rank, English
- 16,425
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The mineral magnetite.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lodestone · lodestone · English
lodestone · rank #97,248 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #97,248
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 16,425
- PHOTO-FINISH litten
Nearest frequency peer: litten (-2 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 “lodestone”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- lepton
lepton
2,765 corpus weight
- libidinous
libidinous
2,762 corpus weight
- lith
lith
2,756 corpus weight
- litten
litten
2,755 corpus weight
- lodestone
lodestone
2,753 corpus weight
- macaca
macaca
2,743 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “lodestone” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lodestone |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈloʊdˌstoʊn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #97,248 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lodestone” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
lodestone is uncommon English at frequency #97,248 among 16,425 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈloʊdˌstoʊn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for lodestone, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested from 1515, from Middle English lode (“guide”) + stone. From use as a guide tool by mariners. See also: lodestar. The correct English form is lodestone, spelled L-O-D-E-S-T-O-N-E.
Definition
- 1The mineral magnetite.
- 2Any naturally occurring magnet.
- 3The focus of one's attraction or attention
Etymology
First attested from 1515, from Middle English lode (“guide”) + stone. From use as a guide tool by mariners. See also: lodestar.
This word in other languages
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 "lodestone", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 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.