Malabar
/ˈmæləˌbɑː/
"malabar" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Malabar” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #45,503 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #45,503
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The region of coastal southwestern India, principally the modern state of Kerala.
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 | Malabar |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈmæləˌbɑː/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #45,503 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Malabar” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Malabar is 7 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmæləˌbɑː/. Corpus data places it at rank #45,503 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Malabar, with forms such as "amlabar", "maalbar", and "malaabr". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Malaya", "Malaga", "Malayan", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic مَلَبَار (malabār), first attested in the writings of Iranian scholar Al-Biruni (c. 11th century). The second element is Arabic بَرّ (barr, “land, ground”) or Persian بار (bâr, “coast”), and the first element is the same as the Byzantine Greek t… The correct English form is Malabar, spelled M-A-L-A-B-A-R.
Definition
- 1The region of coastal southwestern India, principally the modern state of Kerala.
- 2the Tamil language.
- 3A district of British India.
- 4A suburb of Sydney in the Randwick council area, New South Wales, Australia.
Etymology
From Arabic مَلَبَار (malabār), first attested in the writings of Iranian scholar Al-Biruni (c. 11th century). The second element is Arabic بَرّ (barr, “land, ground”) or Persian بار (bâr, “coast”), and the first element is the same as the Byzantine Greek toponym Μαλέ (Malé), mentioned by traveller Cosmas Indicopleustes in the 5th century as a source of pepper exports, concording with modern-day pepper cultivation on the Malabar coast. Mala ~ Male is, in turn, borrowed from Malayalam മല (mala, “mountain”). This is also the source of the name of the language: മലയാളം (malayāḷaṁ, literally “mountain place”). Compare Zanzibar for a possibly similar word formation.
Synonyms
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amlabar,maalbar,malaabr,malabarr,malabbar,malabra,malbaar,mallabar,mlaabar,mmalabar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Malabar - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "Malabar"?
What does "Malabar" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Malabar"?
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What is the origin of the word "Malabar"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Malabar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-L-A-B-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmæləˌbɑː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Malaya” - see the side-by-side comparison. Malabar vs Malaya
- 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.