marsh

/mɑɹʃ/

//mɑɹʃ// noun

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

"marsh" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“marsh” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,687. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,687
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 area of low, wet land, often with tall grass or herbaceous plants.

Corpus desk

Index EN-marsh · marsh · English

marsh · rank #8,687 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,687
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH marker

Nearest frequency peer: marker (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “marsh”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “marsh” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

marsh vs Mrs
40% similar
marsh vs mass
60% similar
marsh vs Mary
40% similar

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

Key facts for marsh
PropertyValue
Headwordmarsh
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/mɑɹʃ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,687
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “marsh”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).marshlands 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 “marker” (#8,686), “Marshal” (#8,688), “lending” (#8,685). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “marsh” is #8,687. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around marsh (IPA /mɑɹʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,687 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "An area of low, wet land, often with tall grass or herbaceous plants.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for marsh, with forms such as "amrsh", "marhs", and "marrsh". 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, "Mrs", "mass", "Mary", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English merssh, from Old English mersċ, merisċ, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk, derived from *mari, equivalent to mere (“sea, body of water”) + -ish. Doublet of marish, morass, and merse. Cognate with West Frisian mersk, Dutch meers (“grasslan… The correct English form is marsh, spelled M-A-R-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    An area of low, wet land, often with tall grass or herbaceous plants.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Many animals live in the marsh.
  2. Čepkeliai Marsh consists mainly of bog.

Etymology

From Middle English merssh, from Old English mersċ, merisċ, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk, derived from *mari, equivalent to mere (“sea, body of water”) + -ish. Doublet of marish, morass, and merse. Cognate with West Frisian mersk, Dutch meers (“grassland, meadow”) and Dutch moeras, German Marsch. More at mere.

This word in other languages

ciénaga(Español)marais(Français)Marsch(Deutsch)pântano(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amrsh
  • marhs
  • marrsh
  • marshh
  • marssh
  • masrh
  • mmarsh
  • mrash

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

amrsh2marhs2marrsh1marshh1marssh1masrh2mmarsh1mrash2
Edit distance from "marsh"

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 "marsh"?
"marsh" is spelled M-A-R-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /mɑɹʃ/.
What does "marsh" mean?
As a noun, "marsh" means: An area of low, wet land, often with tall grass or herbaceous plants.
What words are commonly confused with "marsh"?
"marsh" is commonly confused with "Mrs", "mass", "Mary". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "marsh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "marsh" is /mɑɹʃ/. 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 "marsh"?
From Middle English merssh, from Old English mersċ, merisċ, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk, derived from *mari, equivalent to mere (“sea, body of water”) + -ish. Doublet of marish, morass, and merse. Cognate with West Frisian mersk, Dutch meers ... 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 "marsh", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

messy#8,691molly#8,694Hayes#8,675ninja#8,700

Similar misspelling depth

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

repeal8 variantssodium8 variantswhats8 variantsvillain8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list