macron
/ˈmækɹɒn/
"macron" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“macron” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #30,875 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #30,875
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A short, straight, horizontal diacritical mark (◌̄) placed over a letter, usually to indicate that the pronunciation of a vowel is long.
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 | macron |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmækɹɒn/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #30,875 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 19 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “macron” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for macron is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmækɹɒn/. Corpus data places it at rank #30,875 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A short, straight, horizontal diacritical mark (◌̄) placed over a letter, usually to indicate that the pronunciation of a vowel is long.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for macron, with forms such as "amcron", "maccron", and "macorn". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "mason", "micro", "moron", 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 Ancient Greek μακρόν (makrón), neuter form of μακρός (makrós, “long”) (English macro-). The correct English form is macron, spelled M-A-C-R-O-N.
Definition
- 1A short, straight, horizontal diacritical mark (◌̄) placed over a letter, usually to indicate that the pronunciation of a vowel is long.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μακρόν (makrón), neuter form of μακρός (makrós, “long”) (English macro-).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amcron,maccron,macorn,macrno,macronn,macrron,marcon,mcaron,mmacron
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of macron - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
How do you spell "macron"?
What does "macron" mean?
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Using “macron”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-C-R-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmækɹɒn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mason” - see the side-by-side comparison. macron vs mason
- 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.