mallow
/ˈmæləʊ/
"mallow" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mallow” is uncommon English (frequency #60,256 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #60,256
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of a group of flowering plants in several genera of the taxonomic family Malvaceae, especially of the genus Malva. Several species are edible by humans.
Corpus desk
Index EN-mallow · mallow · English
mallow · rank #60,256 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #60,256
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH maida
Nearest frequency peer: maida (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “mallow”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- luminary
luminary
39,750 corpus weight
- Lysander
Lysander
39,748 corpus weight
- maida
maida
39,746 corpus weight
- mallow
mallow
39,745 corpus weight
- mandal
mandal
39,743 corpus weight
- mangle
mangle
39,741 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “mallow” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | mallow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmæləʊ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #60,256 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “mallow” in English
Rare enough to double-check
mallow is uncommon English at frequency #60,256 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmæləʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
mallow doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English malwe, from Old English mealwe, borrowed from Latin malva. Compare the doublet mauve. The correct English form is mallow, spelled M-A-L-L-O-W.
Definition
- 1Any of a group of flowering plants in several genera of the taxonomic family Malvaceae, especially of the genus Malva. Several species are edible by humans.
- 2Larentia clavaria, an uncommon moth found across Eurasia.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how mallow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Gonzalo. Had I plantation of this isle, my lord,— Antonio. He’ld sow’t with nettle-seed. Sebastian. Or docks, or mallows.
For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
Etymology
From Middle English malwe, from Old English mealwe, borrowed from Latin malva. Compare the doublet mauve.
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); 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mallow", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).