mad cow
"mad-cow" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mad cow” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Mad cow disease; bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | mad cow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mad cow” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
mad cow is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for mad cow in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Ellipsis of mad cow disease. The correct English form is mad cow, spelled M-A-D- -C-O-W.
Definition
- 1Mad cow disease; bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
- 2A cow afflicted with mad cow disease.
- 3Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see mad, cow.
Etymology
Ellipsis of mad cow disease.
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 “mad cow”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-D- -C-O-W - 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.