# loss

> English word · Noun · IPA /lɒs/ · frequency rank #907

## Definitions
1. The result of no longer possessing an object, a function, or a characteristic due to external causes or misplacement.
2. The destruction or ruin of an object.
3. Something that has been destroyed or ruined.
4. Defeat; an instance of being defeated.
5. The death of a person or animal.
6. The condition of grief caused by losing someone or something, especially someone who has died.
7. The sum an entity loses on balance.
8. Electricity of kinetic power expended without doing useful work.

## Etymology
From Middle English los, from Old English los (“damage, destruction, loss”), from Proto-West Germanic *los, from Proto-Germanic *lusą (“dissolution, break-up, loss”), from Proto-Indo-European *lews- (“to cut, sunder, separate, loose, lose”).
Cognate with Icelandic los (“dissolution, looseness, break-up”), Old English lor, forlor (“loss, ruin”), Middle High German verlor (“loss, ruin”). More at lose.

## Easily confused with
- **Ls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-ls)
- **lot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lot)
- **low** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-low)
- **Lou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lou)
- **LSU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lsu)
- **LSD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lsd)
- **LST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lst)
- **lox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lox)
- **loy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-loy)
- **LSC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lsc)
- **love** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-love)
- **lost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lost)
- **lots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lots)
- **loud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-loud)
- **Luis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-luis)
- **lust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lust)
- **lowe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lowe)
- **lush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lush)
- **Lott** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-lott)
- **Louis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/loss-vs-louis)

## Common misspellings (3)
`lloss`, `lsos`, `olss`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/loss