chain mail
"chain-mail" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chain mail” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A flexible defensive armor, made of a mesh of interlinked metal rings.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chain mail |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “chain mail” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for chain mail is 10 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A flexible defensive armor, made of a mesh of interlinked metal rings.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for chain mail, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: chain + mail; attested since the 1780s. The correct English form is chain mail, spelled C-H-A-I-N- -M-A-I-L.
Definition
- 1A flexible defensive armor, made of a mesh of interlinked metal rings.
Etymology
chain + mail; attested since the 1780s.
Synonyms
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 “chain mail”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-A-I-N- -M-A-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.