lud

/lʌd/

//lʌd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“lud” is uncommon English (frequency #72,509 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,509
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pronunciation spelling of lord (used for addressing a judge).

Corpus desk

Index EN-lud · lud · English

lud · rank #72,509 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,509
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Luba

Nearest frequency peer: Luba (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “lud”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “lud” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for lud
PropertyValue
Headwordlud
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/lʌd/
Letters3
Frequency rank#72,509
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “lud” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ludfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Luba” (#72,507), “Lunn” (#72,511), “LPA” (#72,506). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “lud” is #72,509. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lud is uncommon English at frequency #72,509 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /lʌd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pronunciation spelling of lord (used for addressing a judge).".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for lud, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From lord. The correct English form is lud, spelled L-U-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pronunciation spelling of lord (used for addressing a judge).

Etymology

From lord.

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 "lud"?
"lud" is spelled L-U-D. The IPA pronunciation is /lʌd/.
What does "lud" mean?
As a noun, "lud" means: Pronunciation spelling of lord (used for addressing a judge).
How do you pronounce "lud"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lud" is /lʌd/. 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 "lud"?
From lord. 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 "lud", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

LPA#72,506Loz#72,505MTI#72,564NCB#72,579

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list