membrane

/ˈmɛm.bɹeɪn/

//ˈmɛm.bɹeɪn// noun

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

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

The verdict

“membrane” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,362. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,362
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A flexible enclosing or separating tissue forming a plane or film and separating two environments.

Corpus desk

Index EN-membrane · membrane · English

membrane · rank #9,362 · 12 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,362
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH marketplace

Nearest frequency peer: marketplace (-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 “membrane”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “membrane” 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
Key facts for membrane
PropertyValue
Headwordmembrane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɛm.bɹeɪn/
Letters8
Frequency rank#9,362
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “membrane”

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).membranelands 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 “marketplace” (#9,361), “Messing” (#9,363), “marching” (#9,360). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “membrane” is #9,362. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around membrane (IPA /ˈmɛm.bɹeɪn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,362 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for membrane, with forms such as "emmbrane", "mebmrane", and "membarne". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin membrāna (“skin or membrane that covers parts of the body”), from membrum (“a limb or member of the body”) + -āna. Doublet of membrana. The correct English form is membrane, spelled M-E-M-B-R-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A flexible enclosing or separating tissue forming a plane or film and separating two environments.
  2. 2
    A flexible enclosing or separating tissue forming a plane or film and separating two environments.
  3. 3
    A flexible enclosing or separating tissue forming a plane or film and separating two environments.
  4. 4
    A piece of parchment forming part of a roll.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The animal was breathing oxygen that permeated from the water through panels of membrane while carbon dioxide and other unwanted gases moved in the opposite direction—from the animal's enclosed atmosphere into the water.
  2. Then they backed the membrane with a gel matrix containing a perfluorocarbon (PFC) propellant and fluorescent "nanobullets" about a micron wide, and hit it with ultrasound.

Etymology

Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin membrāna (“skin or membrane that covers parts of the body”), from membrum (“a limb or member of the body”) + -āna. Doublet of membrana.

This word in other languages

membrana(Español)membrane(Français)Membran(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emmbrane
  • mebmrane
  • membarne
  • membbrane
  • membraen
  • membranne
  • membrnae
  • membrrane
  • memmbrane
  • memrbane
  • mmebrane
  • mmembrane

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of membrane - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

emmbrane2mebmrane2membarne2membbrane1membraen2membranne1membrnae2membrrane1
Edit distance from "membrane"

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 "membrane"?
"membrane" is spelled M-E-M-B-R-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛm.bɹeɪn/.
What does "membrane" mean?
As a noun, "membrane" means: A flexible enclosing or separating tissue forming a plane or film and separating two environments.
What are common misspellings of "membrane"?
Common misspellings include "emmbrane", "mebmrane", "membarne", "membbrane", "membraen". The correct spelling is "membrane".
How do you pronounce "membrane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "membrane" is /ˈmɛm.bɹeɪn/. 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 "membrane"?
Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin membrāna (“skin or membrane that covers parts of the body”), from membrum (“a limb or member of the body”) + -āna. Doublet of membrana. 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 "membrane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

marching#9,360metallic#9,364murderer#9,368infinity#9,350

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

numbered12 variantsofferings12 variantsrevision12 variantselectron12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list