ley

[ˈlej]

/[ˈlej]/ noun

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

The verdict

“ley” is in the everyday core of Spanish, ranked #204 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.

#204
frequency rank, Spanish
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Disposición, regla o precepto dictado por la máxima autoridad.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

ley vs lo
33% similar
ley vs li
33% similar
ley vs Lu
0% similar

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

Key facts for ley
PropertyValue
Headwordley
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈlej]
Letters3
Frequency rank#204
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ley” sits in Spanish 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). ley 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 Spanish entry for ley is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈlej]. Corpus data places it at rank #204 in overall Spanish word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

ley doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lo", "li", "Lu", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct Spanish form is ley, spelled L-E-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Disposición, regla o precepto dictado por la máxima autoridad.
  2. 2
    Conjunto de leyes que se refieren a una materia.
  3. 3
    Conjunto de normas que rigen la sociedad.
  4. 4
    Relación entre los elementos de un fenómeno físico.
  5. 5
    Regla constante y natural que rige un fenómeno físico.
  6. 6
    Norma moral que debe cumplirse en la sociedad.
  7. 7
    Norma dictada por el poder.
  8. 8
    Conducta dictada por una religión, o la religión misma.
  9. 9
    Normas que rigen solo en un ámbito determinado.
  10. 10
    Proporción en que un metal noble entra en las aleaciones, expresado en milésimas.

This word in other languages

law(English)loi(Français)Gesetz(Deutsch)

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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ley"?
"ley" is spelled L-E-Y. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈlej].
What does "ley" mean?
As a noun, "ley" means: Disposición, regla o precepto dictado por la máxima autoridad.
What words are commonly confused with "ley"?
"ley" is commonly confused with "lo", "li", "Lu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ley"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ley" is [ˈlej]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ley" come from?
"ley" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 “ley”

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

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is L-E-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˈlej] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “lo” - see the side-by-side comparison. ley vs lo
  • Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish 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