melamine

/ˈmɛl.ə.min/

//ˈmɛl.ə.min// noun

"melamine" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“melamine” is uncommon English (frequency #59,545 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,545
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A strong aromatic heterocyclic base, triaminotriazine, used in combination with formaldehyde to manufacture melamine resins; any such resin, such as Formica

Corpus desk

Index EN-melamine · melamine · English

melamine · rank #59,545 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,545
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH menorah

Nearest frequency peer: menorah (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “melamine”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “melamine” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for melamine
PropertyValue
Headwordmelamine
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɛl.ə.min/
Letters8
Frequency rank#59,545
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “melamine” in English

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).melaminefalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “menorah” (#59,546), “Medellín” (#59,543), “microbiologist” (#59,548). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “melamine” is #59,545. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

melamine is uncommon English at frequency #59,545 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɛl.ə.min/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A strong aromatic heterocyclic base, triaminotriazine, used in combination with formaldehyde to manufacture melamine resins; any such resin, such as Formica".

Zero misspellings are on record for melamine in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Ultimately from German Melamin. The correct English form is melamine, spelled M-E-L-A-M-I-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A strong aromatic heterocyclic base, triaminotriazine, used in combination with formaldehyde to manufacture melamine resins; any such resin, such as Formica

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. My room was everything I expected it to be—cold and cheerless, with melamine furniture, grubbily matted carpet and those mysterious ceiling stains that bring to mind a neglected corpse in the room above.
  2. The interior melamine panels were designed to be easily removable for repair or future refurbishment, and the linoleum floor was for easy cleaning.

Etymology

Ultimately from German Melamin.

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 "melamine"?
"melamine" is spelled M-E-L-A-M-I-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛl.ə.min/.
What does "melamine" mean?
As a noun, "melamine" means: A strong aromatic heterocyclic base, triaminotriazine, used in combination with formaldehyde to manufacture melamine resins; any such resin, such as Formica
How do you pronounce "melamine"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "melamine" is /ˈmɛl.ə.min/. 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 "melamine"?
Ultimately from German Melamin. 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 "melamine", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list