plea

/pliː/

//pliː// noun

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

"plea" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“plea” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #7,725) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#7,725
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An appeal, petition, urgent prayer or entreaty.

Corpus desk

Index EN-plea · plea · English

plea · rank #7,725 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,725
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH plasma

Nearest frequency peer: plasma (-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 “plea”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “plea” 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).

plea vs Poe
25% similar
plea vs PSA
0% similar
plea vs ply
50% similar

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

Key facts for plea
PropertyValue
Headwordplea
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pliː/
Letters4
Frequency rank#7,725
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “plea”

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).plealands 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 “plasma” (#7,724), “punish” (#7,726), “pipes” (#7,723). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “plea” is #7,725. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for plea is neighbouring look-alikes ("Poe", "PSA", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /pliː/. Frequency #7,725 among 4,417 “P” headwords. 7 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for plea, with forms such as "lpea", "pela", and "pllea". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Poe", "PSA", "ply", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ple, from Old French plait, plaid, from Medieval Latin placitum (“a decree, sentence, suit, plea, etc., Latin an opinion, determination, prescription, order; literally, that which is pleasing, pleasure”), neuter of placitus, past partici… The correct English form is plea, spelled P-L-E-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    An appeal, petition, urgent prayer or entreaty.
  2. 2
    An excuse; an apology.
  3. 3
    That which is alleged or pleaded, in defense or in justification.
  4. 4
    That which is alleged by a party in support of his cause.
  5. 5
    An allegation of fact in a cause, as distinguished from a demurrer.
  6. 6
    The defendant’s answer to the plaintiff’s declaration and demand.
  7. 7
    A cause in court; a lawsuit; as, the Court of Common Pleas.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Even if only one person answers my plea for someone to correspond with it will be a blessing.
  2. a plea for mercy

Etymology

From Middle English ple, from Old French plait, plaid, from Medieval Latin placitum (“a decree, sentence, suit, plea, etc., Latin an opinion, determination, prescription, order; literally, that which is pleasing, pleasure”), neuter of placitus, past participle of placere (“to please”). Cognate with Spanish pleito (“lawsuit, suit”). Doublet of placit. See also please, pleasure.

Synonyms

plaidoyer

This word in other languages

alegato(Español)supplication(Français)Ersuchen(Deutsch)súplica(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lpea
  • pela
  • pllea
  • pplea

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of plea - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

lpea2pela2pllea1pplea1
Edit distance from "plea"

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 "plea"?
"plea" is spelled P-L-E-A. The IPA pronunciation is /pliː/.
What does "plea" mean?
As a noun, "plea" means: An appeal, petition, urgent prayer or entreaty.
What words are commonly confused with "plea"?
"plea" is commonly confused with "Poe", "PSA", "ply". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "plea"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plea" is /pliː/. 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 "plea"?
From Middle English ple, from Old French plait, plaid, from Medieval Latin placitum (“a decree, sentence, suit, plea, etc., Latin an opinion, determination, prescription, order; literally, that which is pleasing, pleasure”), neuter of placitus, pa... 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 "plea", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lily#7,709sigh#7,742lame#7,707Kane#7,705

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list