mark

/mɑːk/

//mɑːk// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mark" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mark” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #949. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#949
frequency rank, English
36,575
“M” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Boundary, land within a boundary.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mark · mark · English

mark · rank #949 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #949
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 36,575
  • PHOTO-FINISH lol

Nearest frequency peer: lol (-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 “mark”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “mark” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mark vs Mr
25% similar
mark vs MK
0% similar
mark vs may
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mark
PropertyValue
Headwordmark
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/mɑːk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#949
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “mark” 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). mark lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around mark (IPA /mɑːk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #949 among 36,575 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 33 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for mark, with forms such as "amrk", "makr", and "markk". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Mr", "MK", "may", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mark, merk, merke, from Old English mearc (“mark, sign, line of division; standard; boundary, limit, term, border; defined area, district, province”), from Proto-West Germanic *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marke… The correct English form is mark, spelled M-A-R-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    Boundary, land within a boundary.
  2. 2
    Boundary, land within a boundary.
  3. 3
    Boundary, land within a boundary.
  4. 4
    Boundary, land within a boundary.
  5. 5
    Boundary, land within a boundary.
  6. 6
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  7. 7
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  8. 8
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  9. 9
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  10. 10
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  11. 11
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  12. 12
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  13. 13
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  14. 14
    Characteristic, sign, visible impression.
  15. 15
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  16. 16
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  17. 17
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  18. 18
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  19. 19
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  20. 20
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  21. 21
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  22. 22
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  23. 23
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  24. 24
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  25. 25
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  26. 26
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  27. 27
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  28. 28
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  29. 29
    Indicator of position, objective etc.
  30. 30
    Attention.
  31. 31
    Attention.
  32. 32
    Attention.
  33. 33
    Attention.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mark appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I do remember a great thron in Yatton field near Bristow-way, against which Sir William Waller's men made a great fire and killed it. I think the stump remains, and was a mark for travellers.
  2. There dwells Théoden son of Thengel, King of the Mark of Rohan.

Etymology

From Middle English mark, merk, merke, from Old English mearc (“mark, sign, line of division; standard; boundary, limit, term, border; defined area, district, province”), from Proto-West Germanic *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marker”), from Proto-Indo-European *mórǵs (“edge, boundary, border”). Compare march. Cognates * Dutch mark, merk (“mark, brand”) * German Mark (“mark; borderland”), Marke (“mark, brand”) * Swedish mark (“mark, land, territory”) * Icelandic mark (“mark, sign”) * Latin margō (“edge, margin”) * Persian مرز (marz, “limit, boundary”) * Sanskrit मर्या (maryā, “limit, mark, boundary”), मार्ग (mārga, “mark, section”).

Synonyms

MkMk.heedobservanceattention

This word in other languages

marca(Español)marque(Français)Zeichen(Deutsch)marco(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amrk
  • makr
  • markk
  • marrk
  • mmark
  • mrak

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mark - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

amrk2makr2markk1marrk1mmark1mrak2
Edit distance from "mark"

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 May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mark"?
"mark" is spelled M-A-R-K. The IPA pronunciation is /mɑːk/.
What does "mark" mean?
As a noun, "mark" means: Boundary, land within a boundary.
What words are commonly confused with "mark"?
"mark" is commonly confused with "Mr", "MK", "may". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mark"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mark" is /mɑːk/. 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 "mark"?
From Middle English mark, merk, merke, from Old English mearc (“mark, sign, line of division; standard; boundary, limit, term, border; defined area, district, province”), from Proto-West Germanic *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boun... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mark", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pass#952deep#945risk#955base#942

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

below6 variantsways6 variantscard6 variantscases6 variants
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