malt

/mɒlt/

//mɒlt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"malt" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“malt” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,964. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,964
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.

Corpus desk

Index EN-malt · malt · English

malt · rank #16,964 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,964
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Mandela

Nearest frequency peer: Mandela (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “malt”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “malt” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

malt vs MT
0% similar
malt vs ML
0% similar
malt vs may
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for malt
PropertyValue
Headwordmalt
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/mɒlt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#16,964
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “malt”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).maltlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Mandela” (#16,965), “madeleine” (#16,962), “Marian” (#16,966). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “malt” is #16,964. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around malt (IPA /mɒlt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,964 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for malt, with forms such as "amlt", "mallt", and "maltt". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MT", "ML", "may", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English malt, from Old English mealt, from Proto-West Germanic *malt, from Proto-Germanic *maltą (“malt”), from *maltaz (“soft; nesh; weak; squashy; melting”), from Proto-Indo-European *meld-, *mled- (“to crush; grind; make weak”). Cognate with … The correct English form is malt, spelled M-A-L-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.
  2. 2
    Malt liquor, especially malt whisky.
  3. 3
    A milkshake with malted milk powder added for flavor.
  4. 4
    Maltose-rich sugar derived from malted grain.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how malt appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God's ways to man.
  2. Afterward she sat in the drugstore sucking malt through a straw.

Etymology

From Middle English malt, from Old English mealt, from Proto-West Germanic *malt, from Proto-Germanic *maltą (“malt”), from *maltaz (“soft; nesh; weak; squashy; melting”), from Proto-Indo-European *meld-, *mled- (“to crush; grind; make weak”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Moalt (“malt”), Dutch mout (“malt”), German Malz (“malt”), Swedish malt (“malt”), Old Church Slavonic младъ (mladŭ, “tender; young”), Russian молодой (molodoj, “young; fresh; new”). The Proto-Germanic noun was borrowed into Proto-Slavic as *malta; compare Ukrainian мо́лот (mólot), Czech mláto. More at melt.

This word in other languages

malta(Español)malt(Français)Malz(Deutsch)malte(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amlt
  • mallt
  • maltt
  • matl
  • mlat
  • mmalt

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of malt - 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.

amlt2mallt1maltt1matl2mlat2mmalt1
Edit distance from "malt"

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 "malt"?
"malt" is spelled M-A-L-T. The IPA pronunciation is /mɒlt/.
What does "malt" mean?
As a noun, "malt" means: Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.
What words are commonly confused with "malt"?
"malt" is commonly confused with "MT", "ML", "may". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "malt"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "malt" is /mɒlt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "malt"?
From Middle English malt, from Old English mealt, from Proto-West Germanic *malt, from Proto-Germanic *maltą (“malt”), from *maltaz (“soft; nesh; weak; squashy; melting”), from Proto-Indo-European *meld-, *mled- (“to crush; grind; make weak”). Cog... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "malt", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Otis#16,987owls#16,988hoop#16,934prob#17,003

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

mined6 variantsJeanne6 variantshubby6 variantshow'd6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list