mandamus
/mænˈdeɪməs/
"mandamus" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mandamus” is uncommon English (frequency #93,952 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #93,952
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A common law prerogative writ that compels a court or government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly.
Corpus desk
Index EN-mandamus · mandamus · English
mandamus · rank #93,952 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #93,952
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH Malwa
Nearest frequency peer: Malwa (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “mandamus”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- mahila
mahila
6,052 corpus weight
- Malwa
Malwa
6,050 corpus weight
- mandamus
mandamus
6,049 corpus weight
- Manteca
Manteca
6,048 corpus weight
- Marechal
Marechal
6,045 corpus weight
- marvelling
marvelling
6,042 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “mandamus” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | mandamus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /mænˈdeɪməs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #93,952 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mandamus” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
mandamus is uncommon English at frequency #93,952 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /mænˈdeɪməs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A common law prerogative writ that compels a court or government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly.".
No misspelling variants are generated for mandamus in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin mandāmus (“we command”). The correct English form is mandamus, spelled M-A-N-D-A-M-U-S.
Definition
- 1A common law prerogative writ that compels a court or government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how mandamus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I admit to all my learned friends that a Mandamus does not issue where there is another course of proceeding by which the thing can be effected; but I again state to your Lordships, that if in this case a Mandamus must not issue, there is no other proceeding that can be adopted.
And then it was moved that the court would grant a mandamus to the delegates to admit the bishop's allegations: and it was compared to the cases where they grant mandamuses to compel the granting of probates of wills or letters of administration.
Etymology
From Latin mandāmus (“we command”).
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mandamus", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
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- Usage frequency rank #93,952 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
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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.