maroon

/məˈɹuːn/

//məˈɹuːn// noun

"maroon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“maroon” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,361. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,361
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An escaped black slave of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of such a person.

Corpus desk

Index EN-maroon · maroon · English

maroon · rank #18,361 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,361
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Maldives

Nearest frequency peer: Maldives (-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 “maroon”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “maroon” 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 September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

maroon vs moon
67% similar
maroon vs mason
67% similar
maroon vs moron
67% similar

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

Key facts for maroon
PropertyValue
Headwordmaroon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/məˈɹuːn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#18,361
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “maroon” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).maroonlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Maldives” (#18,360), “Marriott” (#18,362), “lowry” (#18,359). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around maroon (IPA /məˈɹuːn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #18,361 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for maroon, with forms such as "amroon", "maoron", and "maron". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "moon", "mason", "moron", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French marron (“feral; fugitive”, adjective), from Spanish cimarrón (“fugitive, wild, feral”); see that entry for more. The correct English form is maroon, spelled M-A-R-O-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An escaped black slave of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of such a person.
  2. 2
    A castaway; a person who has been marooned.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Further north a Maroon community in the Bahoruco Mountains thrived for eighty-five years, until the French proposed a truce under the terms of which the Maroons would be permitted to form an independent clan.
  2. Joining others who had escaped before them, they formed communities of Maroons in which many traditional African customs and social mores were preserved.

Etymology

From French marron (“feral; fugitive”, adjective), from Spanish cimarrón (“fugitive, wild, feral”); see that entry for more.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amroon
  • maoron
  • maron
  • marono
  • maroonn
  • marroon
  • mmaroon
  • mraoon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of maroon - 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.

amroon2maoron2maron1marono2maroonn1marroon1mmaroon1mraoon2
Edit distance from "maroon"

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 "maroon"?
"maroon" is spelled M-A-R-O-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /məˈɹuːn/.
What does "maroon" mean?
As a noun, "maroon" means: An escaped black slave of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of such a person.
What words are commonly confused with "maroon"?
"maroon" is commonly confused with "moon", "mason", "moron". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "maroon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "maroon" is /məˈɹuːn/. 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 "maroon"?
From French marron (“feral; fugitive”, adjective), from Spanish cimarrón (“fugitive, wild, feral”); see that entry for more. 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 "maroon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "maroon". Here's where to go from here.

  • "maroon" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "moon". View pair
  • 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #18,361 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "M" letter cohort. M–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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