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remain

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "remain", 6-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 "remain" 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 "remain" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

remain is aEnglishnoun. It means: That which is left; relic; remainder. Pronounced /ɹɪˈmeɪn/. It ranks #1,574 in English word frequency. Often confused with Remi and roman.

Key facts for remain
PropertyValue
Headwordremain
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹɪˈmeɪn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,574
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of remain in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for remain is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈmeɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,574 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for remain, with forms such as "ermain", "reamin", and "remainn". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Remi", "roman", "remix", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English remainen, from Old French remain-, stressed stem of remanoir, from Latin remaneō, maneō, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stay”). Displaced native Middle English beliven, bliven (“to remain”) (from Old English belīfan (“to remain, sta… 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 remain, spelled R-E-M-A-I-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    That which is left; relic; remainder.
  2. 2
    That which is left of a human being after the life is gone; relics; a dead body.
  3. 3
    Posthumous works or productions, especially literary works.
  4. 4
    State of remaining; stay.

Etymology

From Middle English remainen, from Old French remain-, stressed stem of remanoir, from Latin remaneō, maneō, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stay”). Displaced native Middle English beliven, bliven (“to remain”) (from Old English belīfan (“to remain, stay”)) due to confluence with related Middle English beleven (“to leave behind”), with which it merged. More at beleave and belive.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ermain,reamin,remainn,remani,remian,remmain,rmeain,rremain

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for remain

Misspelling Variants of "remain"

ermain6reamin6remainn7remani6remian6remmain7rmeain6rremain7
Misspelling Variants of "remain"

Frequency rank: #1,574 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "remain"?
"remain" is spelled R-E-M-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɪˈmeɪn/.
What does "remain" mean?
As a noun, "remain" means: That which is left; relic; remainder.
What words are commonly confused with "remain"?
"remain" is commonly confused with "Remi", "roman", "remix". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "remain"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "remain" is /ɹɪˈmeɪn/. 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 "remain"?
From Middle English remainen, from Old French remain-, stressed stem of remanoir, from Latin remaneō, maneō, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stay”). Displaced native Middle English beliven, bliven (“to remain”) (from Old English belīfan (“to r... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter R in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.