martial

/ˈmɑːʃəl/

//ˈmɑːʃəl// adj

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

"martial" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“martial” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,492. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,492
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
15
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike.

Corpus desk

Index EN-martial · martial · English

martial · rank #6,492 · 9 variants · 15 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,492
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Linda

Nearest frequency peer: Linda (-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 “martial”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “martial” 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).

martial vs martin
71% similar
martial vs mortal
71% similar
martial vs Martian
71% similar

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

Key facts for martial
PropertyValue
Headwordmartial
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈmɑːʃəl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,492
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “martial”

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).martiallands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Linda” (#6,491), “Nigerian” (#6,493), “lifting” (#6,490). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “martial” is #6,492. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around martial (IPA /ˈmɑːʃəl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #6,492 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for martial, with forms such as "amrtial", "marrtial", and "martail". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "martin", "mortal", "Martian", 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 martial, marcial, mercial, mercialle (“relating to war, warlike; military; for use in fighting or warfare; brave, hardy; combative, fierce; ruthless, vicious; domineering, overbearing”), from Middle French martial (modern French martial … The correct English form is martial, spelled M-A-R-T-I-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike.
  2. 2
    Connected with or relating to armed forces or the profession of arms or military life.
  3. 3
    Characteristic of or befitting a warrior; having a military bearing; soldierly.
  4. 4
    Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Mars.
  5. 5
    Of or relating to the planet Mars; Martian.
  6. 6
    Containing, or relating to, iron (which was symbolically associated with the planet Mars by alchemists); chalybeate, ferric, ferrous.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The captaine he, which climbes for high advaunce, / By piercing blade imbrude in enimies blood, / In martiall ſhewes who formoſt leades the daunce, [...]
  2. Sir, if I were to yeeld a reaſon of my preſent preſumption for thus boldly offering vnto your worſhipful view this little hyſtoricall Abridgemẽt of Martiall exploits, by ſundrye moſt famous warriours and renowmed Capitaines long ſince atchieued: [...]

Etymology

From Middle English martial, marcial, mercial, mercialle (“relating to war, warlike; military; for use in fighting or warfare; brave, hardy; combative, fierce; ruthless, vicious; domineering, overbearing”), from Middle French martial (modern French martial (“martial”)), or directly from its etymon Latin mārtiālis (“of or pertaining to Mars, the Roman god of war”), from Mārtius (“of or pertaining to Mars”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). The English word is cognate with Italian marziale (“martial”), Portuguese marcial (“martial”), Spanish marcial (“martial”).

This word in other languages

marcial(Español)martial(Français)kriegerisch(Deutsch)marcial(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amrtial
  • marrtial
  • martail
  • martiall
  • martila
  • marttial
  • matrial
  • mmartial
  • mratial

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of martial - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

amrtial2marrtial1martail2martiall1martila2marttial1matrial2mmartial1
Edit distance from "martial"

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 "martial"?
"martial" is spelled M-A-R-T-I-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɑːʃəl/.
What does "martial" mean?
As an adjective, "martial" means: Of, relating to, or suggestive of war; warlike.
What words are commonly confused with "martial"?
"martial" is commonly confused with "martin", "mortal", "Martian". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "martial"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "martial" is /ˈmɑːʃəl/. 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 "martial"?
From Middle English martial, marcial, mercial, mercialle (“relating to war, warlike; military; for use in fighting or warfare; brave, hardy; combative, fierce; ruthless, vicious; domineering, overbearing”), from Middle French martial (modern Frenc... 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 "martial", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lifting#6,490observe#6,495laundry#6,488packing#6,496

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

panels9 variantsHolmes9 variantsproves9 variantsfilmed9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list