low
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "low", 3-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "low" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "low" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
low is anEnglishadj. It means: Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty. Pronounced /ˈləʊ/. It ranks #468 in English word frequency. Often confused with Lt and LP.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | low |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adj |
| IPA | /ˈləʊ/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #468 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for low is 3 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈləʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #468 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 25 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for low in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Lt", "LP", "Ls", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *légʰyeti Proto-Germanic *ligjaną Proto-Germanic *lēgaz Old Norse lágrbor. Middle English lāh English low From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr (“low… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is low, spelled L-O-W, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty.
- 2Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty.
- 3Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty.
- 4Of less than normal height or upward extent or growth, or of greater than normal depth or recession; below the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.
- 5Of less than normal height or upward extent or growth, or of greater than normal depth or recession; below the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.
- 6Not high in status, esteem, or rank, dignity, or quality. (Compare vulgar.)
- 7Humble, meek, not haughty.
- 8Disparaging; assigning little value or excellence.
- 9Being a nadir, a bottom.
- 10Depressed in mood, dejected, sad.
- 11Lacking health or vitality, strength or vivacity; feeble; weak.
- 12Lacking health or vitality, strength or vivacity; feeble; weak.
- 13Dead. (Compare lay low.)
- 14Small, not high (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).
- 15Small, not high (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).
- 16Small, not high (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).
- 17Simple in complexity or development.
- 18Favoring simplicity (see e.g. low church, Low Tory).
- 19Being near the equator.
- 20Grave in pitch, due to being produced by relatively slow vibrations (wave oscillations); flat.
- 21Quiet; soft; not loud.
- 22Made with a relatively large opening between the tongue and the palate; made with (part of) the tongue positioned low in the mouth, relative to the palate.
- 23Lesser in value than other cards, denominations, suits, etc.
- 24Not rich or seasoned; offering the minimum of nutritional requirements; plain, simple.
- 25Designed for a slow (or the slowest) speed.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *légʰyeti Proto-Germanic *ligjaną Proto-Germanic *lēgaz Old Norse lágrbor. Middle English lāh English low From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr (“low”), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“lying, flat, situated near the ground, low”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”). Cognate with Scots laich (“low”), Saterland Frisian läich (“low”), West Frisian leech (“low”), Dutch laag (“low”), obsolete German läg (“low”), German Low German leeg, leeg' (“low”), Danish lav (“low”), Faroese, Icelandic lágur (“low”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish låg (“low”). More at lie.
This word in other languages
Frequency rank: #468 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter L in our English index: