median
/ˈmiː.dɪən/
"median" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“median” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,591. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #6,591
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A central vein or nerve, especially the median vein or median nerve running through the forearm and arm.
Corpus desk
Index EN-median · median · English
median · rank #6,591 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #6,591
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH medieval
Nearest frequency peer: medieval (+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 “median”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- majesty
majesty
93,413 corpus weight
- measurement
measurement
93,412 corpus weight
- median
median
93,410 corpus weight
- medieval
medieval
93,409 corpus weight
- Milan
Milan
93,408 corpus weight
- mobility
mobility
93,407 corpus weight
What this shows “median” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | median |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmiː.dɪən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,591 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “median”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around median (IPA /ˈmiː.dɪən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,591 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for median, with forms such as "emdian", "mdeian", and "medain". 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, "Mein", "Megan", "medic", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French median, from Latin mediānus (“of or pertaining to the middle”, adjective), from medius (“middle”) (see medium), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”). Doublet of mean and mizzen. Cognate with Old English midde, middel (“mi… The correct English form is median, spelled M-E-D-I-A-N.
Definition
- 1A central vein or nerve, especially the median vein or median nerve running through the forearm and arm.
- 2A line segment joining the vertex of triangle to the midpoint of the opposing side.
- 3A number separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, population, or probability distribution. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to highest value and picking the middle one (e.g., the median of {3, 3, 5, 9, 11} is 5). If there is an even number of observations, then there is no single middle value; the median is then usually defined to be the mean of the two middle values.
- 4The area separating two lanes of opposite-direction traffic.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how median appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Why is not our jugular or throat-veine as much at our command as the mediane [translating mediane]?
The Greeks prescribe the median or middle vein to be opened, and so much blood to be taken away as the patient may well spare, and the cut that is made must be wide enough.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French median, from Latin mediānus (“of or pertaining to the middle”, adjective), from medius (“middle”) (see medium), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“middle”). Doublet of mean and mizzen. Cognate with Old English midde, middel (“middle”). More at middle.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- emdian
- mdeian
- medain
- meddian
- mediann
- meidan
- mmedian
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of median - 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.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "median", 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 (7 here; floor ≥5).