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manila

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "manila", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "manila" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "manila" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

Manila is aEnglishname. It means: The capital city of the Philippines; the regional capital of Metro Manila, in the island of Luzon. Pronounced /mɐˈni.lɐ/. It ranks #8,572 in English word frequency. Often confused with Mila and Maria.

Key facts for Manila
PropertyValue
HeadwordManila
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechName
IPA/mɐˈni.lɐ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,572
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Manila in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for Manila is 6 letters long, classified as aname, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /mɐˈni.lɐ/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,572 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for Manila, with forms such as "amnila", "mainla", and "manial". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Mila", "Maria", "manly", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Spanish Manila, from Tagalog Maynila, from may (“there is”) + nila (“indigo”), Tagalog nila from Sanskrit नील (nīla). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is Manila, spelled M-A-N-I-L-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The capital city of the Philippines; the regional capital of Metro Manila, in the island of Luzon.
  2. 2
    Metro Manila, the National Capital Region (NCR).
  3. 3
    the entirety of Luzon.
  4. 4
    The national government or administrative authority of the Philippines.
  5. 5
    A small town, the county seat of Daggett County, Utah, United States.
  6. 6
    A census-designated place in Humboldt County, California, United States.
  7. 7
    A city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States.

Etymology

From Spanish Manila, from Tagalog Maynila, from may (“there is”) + nila (“indigo”), Tagalog nila from Sanskrit नील (nīla).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: amnila,mainla,manial,manilla,manlia,mannila,mmanila,mnaila

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Manila

Misspelling Variants of "Manila"

amnila6mainla6manial6manilla7manlia6mannila7mmanila7mnaila6
Misspelling Variants of "Manila"

Frequency rank: #8,572 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Manila"?
"Manila" is spelled M-A-N-I-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is /mɐˈni.lɐ/.
What does "Manila" mean?
As a name, "Manila" means: The capital city of the Philippines; the regional capital of Metro Manila, in the island of Luzon.
What words are commonly confused with "Manila"?
"Manila" is commonly confused with "Mila", "Maria", "manly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Manila"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Manila" is /mɐˈni.lɐ/. 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 "Manila"?
From Spanish Manila, from Tagalog Maynila, from may (“there is”) + nila (“indigo”), Tagalog nila from Sanskrit नील (nīla). 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.