cumin
/ˈkjuːmɪn/
"cumin" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cumin” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #28,504 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #28,504
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The flowering plant Cuminum cyminum, in the family Apiaceae.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cumin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkjuːmɪn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #28,504 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cumin” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cumin is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkjuːmɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #28,504 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for cumin, with forms such as "ccumin", "cmuin", and "cuimn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cums", "cutie", "Cupid", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English comyn, from Old English cymen (which is cognate with Old High German kumin) and Old French cummin, both from Latin cuminum, from Ancient Greek κύμινον (kúminon), a Semitic borrowing ultimately to be traced to Akkadian 𒂵𒈬𒉡 (Ú.GAMUN /k… The correct English form is cumin, spelled C-U-M-I-N.
Definition
- 1The flowering plant Cuminum cyminum, in the family Apiaceae.
- 2Its aromatic long seed, used as a spice, notably in Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mexican cookery.
Etymology
From Middle English comyn, from Old English cymen (which is cognate with Old High German kumin) and Old French cummin, both from Latin cuminum, from Ancient Greek κύμινον (kúminon), a Semitic borrowing ultimately to be traced to Akkadian 𒂵𒈬𒉡 (Ú.GAMUN /kamūnu/, “cumin”). Possibly related to caraway.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccumin,cmuin,cuimn,cuminn,cummin,cumni,ucmin
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cumin - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “cumin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-U-M-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkjuːmɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cums” - see the side-by-side comparison. cumin vs cums
- 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.