PLA

name

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

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

The verdict

“PLA” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,735 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.

#20,735
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Initialism of Port of London Authority.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

PLA vs PM
33% similar
PLA vs PP
33% similar
PLA vs PR
33% similar

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

Key facts for PLA
PropertyValue
HeadwordPLA
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters3
Frequency rank#20,735
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “PLA” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). PLA lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for PLA is 3 letters long, classified as a proper noun. Corpus data places it at rank #20,735 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

PLA has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PM", "PP", "PR", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is PLA, spelled P-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of Port of London Authority.
  2. 2
    Initialism of People's Liberation Army.
  3. 3
    Initialism of People's Liberation Army.
  4. 4
    Initialism of People's Liberation Army.
  5. 5
    Initialism of Palestine Liberation Army (“a traditional army of the Palestine Liberation Organization, defunct”).
  6. 6
    NYSE stock-ticker symbol for Playboy Enterprises, Inc., now PLBY.
  7. 7
    Initialism of Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

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 "PLA"?
"PLA" is spelled P-L-A.
What does "PLA" mean?
As a proper noun, "PLA" means: Initialism of Port of London Authority.
What words are commonly confused with "PLA"?
"PLA" is commonly confused with "PM", "PP", "PR". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "PLA" come from?
"PLA" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “PLA”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-L-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “PM” - see the side-by-side comparison. PLA vs PM
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list