speed limit
/ˌspiːd ˈlɪ.mɪt/
"speed-limit" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“speed limit” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The maximum speed permitted by law for vehicles.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | speed limit |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌspiːd ˈlɪ.mɪt/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “speed limit” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
speed limit is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌspiːd ˈlɪ.mɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
speed limit doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is speed limit, spelled S-P-E-E-D- -L-I-M-I-T.
Definition
- 1The maximum speed permitted by law for vehicles.
- 2The hand consisting of a pair of 5s, so called in reference to the common speed limit of 55 mph.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “speed limit”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-E-E-D- -L-I-M-I-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌspiːd ˈlɪ.mɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.