marginal
/ˈmɑː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/
"marginal" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“marginal” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,069 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #11,069
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge).
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 | marginal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈmɑː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,069 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “marginal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for marginal is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɑː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,069 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for marginal, with forms such as "amrginal", "magrinal", and "margginal". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "marina", "martial", "marital", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin marginālis, equivalent to margin + -al. The correct English form is marginal, spelled M-A-R-G-I-N-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge).
- 2Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge).
- 3Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge).
- 4Determined by a small margin; having a salient characteristic determined by a small margin.
- 5Determined by a small margin; having a salient characteristic determined by a small margin.
- 6Determined by a small margin; having a salient characteristic determined by a small margin.
- 7Pertaining to changes resulting from a unit increase in production or consumption of a good.
- 8Marginalized.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin marginālis, equivalent to margin + -al.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amrginal,magrinal,margginal,margianl,marginall,marginla,marginnal,margnial,marignal,marrginal,mmarginal,mraginal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of marginal - 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
How do you spell "marginal"?
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Using “marginal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-R-G-I-N-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɑː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “marina” - see the side-by-side comparison. marginal vs marina
- 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.