slang
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
5 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "slang", 5-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 "slang" 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 "slang" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
slang is aEnglishnoun. It means: Language outside of conventional usage and in the informal register. Pronounced /ˈslæŋ/. Often confused with song and span.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | slang |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈslæŋ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #14,023 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for slang is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈslæŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,023 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 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 slang, with forms such as "lsang", "salng", and "slagn". 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, "song", "span", "stan", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: First use appears c. 1756, meaning "special vocabulary of tramps or thieves", origin unknown. Not believed to be connected with language or lingo. Possibly derived from a North Germanic source, then possibly related to Nordic language: Danish slænge, Icelan… 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 slang, spelled S-L-A-N-G, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Language outside of conventional usage and in the informal register.
- 2Language that is unique to a particular profession or subject; jargon.
- 3The specialized language of a social group, sometimes used to conceal one's meaning from outsiders; cant.
- 4A particular variety of slang; the slang used by a particular group.
- 5An item of slang; a slang word or expression.
- 6A curse word.
Etymology
First use appears c. 1756, meaning "special vocabulary of tramps or thieves", origin unknown. Not believed to be connected with language or lingo. Possibly derived from a North Germanic source, then possibly related to Nordic language: Danish slænge, Icelandic and Norwegian Nynorsk slengja, Norwegian slenge, Swedish slänga (“to (carelessly) sling, throw, hurl; throw away, to dispose of; to flail”), with derivational nouns such as slæng, sleng, släng etc. Compare the compound: Danish slængenavn, Norwegian slengenavn, Norwegian Nynorsk slengenamn, Swedish slängnamn (“nickname, byname, informal name”, literally “sling-name”), and the phrases: Norwegian Nynorsk slengja kjeften, Swedish slänga käften (“to abuse verbally”, literally “to sling one's jowl”), Swedish slänga ur sig (“to say something hastily, carelessly, thoughtlessly”, literally “to throw out of oneself”), also Swedish (regional) slänga (“careless, nonchalant girl”, literally “sling + feminine suffix -a”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: lsang,salng,slagn,slangg,slanng,sllang,slnag,sslang
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for slang
Misspelling Variants of "slang"
Frequency rank: #14,023 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index: