meaning

/ˈmiː.nɪŋ/

//ˈmiː.nɪŋ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“meaning” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,429. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,429
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol.

Corpus desk

Index EN-meaning · meaning · English

meaning · rank #1,429 · 10 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,429
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mass

Nearest frequency peer: mass (-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 “meaning”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “meaning” 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).

meaning vs mining
71% similar
meaning vs morning
71% similar
meaning vs meeting
71% similar

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

Key facts for meaning
PropertyValue
Headwordmeaning
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmiː.nɪŋ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,429
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “meaning”

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).meaninglands 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 “mass” (#1,428), “mission” (#1,430), “hall” (#1,427). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “meaning” is #1,429. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around meaning (IPA /ˈmiː.nɪŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,429 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for meaning, with forms such as "emaning", "maening", and "meainng". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "mining", "morning", "meeting", 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 mening, menyng, equivalent to mean + -ing. Cognate with Scots mening (“intent, purpose, sense, meaning”), West Frisian miening (“opinion, mind”), Dutch mening (“view, opinion, judgement”), German Meinung (“opinion, view, mind, idea”), Da… The correct English form is meaning, spelled M-E-A-N-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol.
  2. 2
    The connotation associated with a word, expression, or symbol.
  3. 3
    The purpose, value, or significance (of something) beyond the fact of that thing's existence.
  4. 4
    Intention.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
  2. the meaning of life

Etymology

From Middle English mening, menyng, equivalent to mean + -ing. Cognate with Scots mening (“intent, purpose, sense, meaning”), West Frisian miening (“opinion, mind”), Dutch mening (“view, opinion, judgement”), German Meinung (“opinion, view, mind, idea”), Danish and Swedish mening (“meaning, sense, sentence, opinion”), Icelandic meining (“meaning”).

Synonyms

acceptationdefinitionparsingsenseflavorimplicationimportinsinuationtonepurposesignificancegoalaimplanintent

This word in other languages

sentido(Español)signification(Français)Bedeutung(Deutsch)significado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emaning
  • maening
  • meainng
  • meanign
  • meaningg
  • meaninng
  • meannig
  • meanning
  • menaing
  • mmeaning

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

emaning2maening2meainng2meanign2meaningg1meaninng1meannig2meanning1
Edit distance from "meaning"

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 "meaning"?
"meaning" is spelled M-E-A-N-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmiː.nɪŋ/.
What does "meaning" mean?
As a noun, "meaning" means: The denotation, referent, or idea connected with a word, expression, or symbol.
What words are commonly confused with "meaning"?
"meaning" is commonly confused with "mining", "morning", "meeting". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "meaning"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "meaning" is /ˈmiː.nɪŋ/. 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 "meaning"?
From Middle English mening, menyng, equivalent to mean + -ing. Cognate with Scots mening (“intent, purpose, sense, meaning”), West Frisian miening (“opinion, mind”), Dutch mening (“view, opinion, judgement”), German Meinung (“opinion, view, mind, ... 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 "meaning", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

mission#1,430economy#1,423weather#1,443William#1,414

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

officers10 variantsteacher10 variantsevening10 variantsflight10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list