Malagasy
/ˌmæləˈɡæsi/
"malagasy" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Malagasy” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #46,041. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #46,041
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person from Madagascar or of Malagasy descent.
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 | Malagasy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌmæləˈɡæsi/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #46,041 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Malagasy” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around Malagasy (IPA /ˌmæləˈɡæsi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #46,041 among 36,575 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A person from Madagascar or of Malagasy descent.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for Malagasy, with forms such as "amlagasy", "maalgasy", and "malaagsy". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Malaga", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Malagasy malagasy, connected to Mālāī-Jezīra, “island of Mālāī”. Compare English Madagascar, which by folk etymology comes from Marco Polo's misreading of Mogadishu whereas it should be Arabic جَزِيرَة المَالَائِيّ (jazīrat al-mālāʔiyy, “the Island of … The correct English form is Malagasy, spelled M-A-L-A-G-A-S-Y.
Definition
- 1A person from Madagascar or of Malagasy descent.
Etymology
From Malagasy malagasy, connected to Mālāī-Jezīra, “island of Mālāī”. Compare English Madagascar, which by folk etymology comes from Marco Polo's misreading of Mogadishu whereas it should be Arabic جَزِيرَة المَالَائِيّ (jazīrat al-mālāʔiyy, “the Island of Mālāī”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- amlagasy
- maalgasy
- malaagsy
- malagassy
- malagasyy
- malagays
- malaggasy
- malagsay
- malgaasy
- mallagasy
- mlaagasy
- mmalagasy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Malagasy - 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 "Malagasy"?
What does "Malagasy" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Malagasy"?
How do you pronounce "Malagasy"?
What is the origin of the word "Malagasy"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Malagasy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-L-A-G-A-S-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌmæləˈɡæsi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Malaga” - see the side-by-side comparison. Malagasy vs Malaga
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.