los

/lɒs/

//lɒs// noun

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

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

The verdict

“los” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,728) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#1,728
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx.

Corpus desk

Index EN-los · los · English

los · rank #1,728 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,728
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Joe

Nearest frequency peer: Joe (-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 neighbours of confusable “los”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “los” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

los vs Lt
0% similar
los vs LP
0% similar
los vs Ls
33% similar

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

Key facts for los
PropertyValue
Headwordlos
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/lɒs/
Letters3
Frequency rank#1,728
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “los”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).loslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Joe” (#1,727), “marketing” (#1,729), “items” (#1,726). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “los” is #1,728. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for los is neighbouring look-alikes ("Lt", "LP", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /lɒs/. Frequency #1,728 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Gloss: "A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for los, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Lt", "LP", "Ls", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English lusk, from Old English lox, from Proto-West Germanic *luhs, from Proto-Germanic *luhsaz. Cognate with Scots los, Saterland Frisian Luks, Low German Luks, Dutch los, German Luchs, Luxembourgish Luuss. The correct English form is los, spelled L-O-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The los had been brought from a northern part of the United States.
  2. A beaſt like unto a wolfe having many ſpottes, and being exceeding quicke of ſight: a wolfe like an hart, a Los or Lynx.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English lusk, from Old English lox, from Proto-West Germanic *luhs, from Proto-Germanic *luhsaz. Cognate with Scots los, Saterland Frisian Luks, Low German Luks, Dutch los, German Luchs, Luxembourgish Luuss.

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 "los"?
"los" is spelled L-O-S. The IPA pronunciation is /lɒs/.
What does "los" mean?
As a noun, "los" means: A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx.
What words are commonly confused with "los"?
"los" is commonly confused with "Lt", "LP", "Ls". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "los"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "los" is /lɒs/. 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 "los"?
Inherited from Middle English lusk, from Old English lox, from Proto-West Germanic *luhs, from Proto-Germanic *luhsaz. Cognate with Scots los, Saterland Frisian Luks, Low German Luks, Dutch los, German Luchs, Luxembourgish Luuss. 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 "los", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Joe#1,727nor#1,732van#1,742cat#1,713

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list