maple
/ˈmeɪpəl/
"maple" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“maple” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,822 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,822
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tree of the genus Acer, characterised by its usually palmate leaves and winged seeds.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | maple |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmeɪpəl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #8,822 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “maple” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for maple is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmeɪpəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,822 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for maple, with forms such as "malpe", "mapel", and "maplle". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mile", "mate", "maps", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mapel, from Old English *mapul (attested in mapultrēow and mapulder), from Proto-West Germanic *mapul. See also Old Saxon mapulder, Old High German mazaltra, mazzaltra; also Old Norse mǫpurr, Middle Low German mapeldorn, dialectal Dutch … The correct English form is maple, spelled M-A-P-L-E.
Definition
- 1A tree of the genus Acer, characterised by its usually palmate leaves and winged seeds.
- 2Wood of such a tree, valued for its hardness and attractive appearance.
- 3The flavor of such a tree's sap, or an imitation of that flavor.
Etymology
From Middle English mapel, from Old English *mapul (attested in mapultrēow and mapulder), from Proto-West Germanic *mapul. See also Old Saxon mapulder, Old High German mazaltra, mazzaltra; also Old Norse mǫpurr, Middle Low German mapeldorn, dialectal Dutch meppel, German Masseller, Maßholder; also Old English mæsen (“maple”), Old Norse mǫsurr (“maple”), German Maser (“knob, offshoot”); also German Mase (“scar”), modern Maser (“speck, measle”). More at measles.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: malpe,mapel,maplle,mapple,mmaple,mpale
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of maple - 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.
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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Using “maple”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-P-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmeɪpəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mile” - see the side-by-side comparison. maple vs mile
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.