manilla

noun

"manilla" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“manilla” is uncommon English (frequency #69,225 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,225
frequency rank, English
36,575
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A penannular armlet, sometimes worn on the leg or neck or used as an ornament, mostly in bronze, copper or gold, which served as a form of money or barter coinage amongst certain West African peoples.

Key facts for manilla
PropertyValue
Headwordmanilla
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#69,225
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “manilla” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

manilla is uncommon English at frequency #69,225 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A penannular armlet, sometimes worn on the leg or neck or used as an ornament, mostly in bronze, copper or gold, which served as a form of money or barter coinage amongst certain West African peoples.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for manilla in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Spanish manilla (“bracelet”), from Catalan manilla (“bracelet, armring”); partly from Latin monīle (“a necklace, collar”), from Proto-Indo-European *mony- (“withers, crest, mane”); and partly from Frankish *mānili (“moon-shaped ornament”), from *māno (… The correct English form is manilla, spelled M-A-N-I-L-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A penannular armlet, sometimes worn on the leg or neck or used as an ornament, mostly in bronze, copper or gold, which served as a form of money or barter coinage amongst certain West African peoples.

Etymology

From Spanish manilla (“bracelet”), from Catalan manilla (“bracelet, armring”); partly from Latin monīle (“a necklace, collar”), from Proto-Indo-European *mony- (“withers, crest, mane”); and partly from Frankish *mānili (“moon-shaped ornament”), from *māno (“moon”), from Proto-Germanic *mēnô (“moon”), from Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s (“moon, month”), related to Old High German mânili (“moon-shaped ornament”). More at mane, moon.

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 "manilla"?
"manilla" is spelled M-A-N-I-L-L-A.
What does "manilla" mean?
As a noun, "manilla" means: A penannular armlet, sometimes worn on the leg or neck or used as an ornament, mostly in bronze, copper or gold, which served as a form of money or barter coinage amongst certain West African peoples.
What is the origin of the word "manilla"?
From Spanish manilla (“bracelet”), from Catalan manilla (“bracelet, armring”); partly from Latin monīle (“a necklace, collar”), from Proto-Indo-European *mony- (“withers, crest, mane”); and partly from Frankish *mānili (“moon-shaped ornament”), fr... 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.

Using “manilla”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-A-N-I-L-L-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list