meme

/miːm/

//miːm// noun

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

"meme" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“meme” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,170. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,170
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any unit of (originally cultural) information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.

Corpus desk

Index EN-meme · meme · English

meme · rank #8,170 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,170
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH massacre

Nearest frequency peer: massacre (-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 “meme”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “meme” 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).

meme vs MM
0% similar
meme vs men
50% similar
meme vs mom
50% similar

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

Key facts for meme
PropertyValue
Headwordmeme
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/miːm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#8,170
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “meme”

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).memelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “massacre” (#8,169), “mitch” (#8,171), “lone” (#8,168). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “meme” is #8,170. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around meme (IPA /miːm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,170 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for meme, with forms such as "emme", "meem", and "memme". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MM", "men", "mom", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of mimeme, equivalent to mime + -eme. Coined by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Shortened (after gene) from mimeme (compare English phoneme), anglicized as if from a noun derived from Ancient Greek μῑμέομαι (… The correct English form is meme, spelled M-E-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any unit of (originally cultural) information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
  2. 2
    Media, usually humorous, which is copied and circulated online with slight adaptations, such as basic pictures, video templates, etc.
  3. 3
    A specific instance of a meme, such as an image macro or a video, often with humorous superimposed text.
  4. 4
    Something which is deceptive; a trick, a ruse.
  5. 5
    Something not to be taken seriously; a joke.
  6. 6
    A work produced and shared in response to a prompt or suggestion within an online group.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches.
  2. For most of the population, the media system is, I think, a different one. It's not just the case that it tries to entertain them. It tries to entertain them through memes, which will intensify attitudes that support the interests of elites.

Etymology

Clipping of mimeme, equivalent to mime + -eme. Coined by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Shortened (after gene) from mimeme (compare English phoneme), anglicized as if from a noun derived from Ancient Greek μῑμέομαι (mīméomai) with the deverbal suffix -μα (-ma), from μῖμος (mîmos, “imitation, copy”). The concept was later applied to the Internet by Mike Godwin.

This word in other languages

meme(Español)mème(Français)Mem(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emme
  • meem
  • memme
  • mmee
  • mmeme

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

emme2meem2memme1mmee2mmeme1
Edit distance from "meme"

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 "meme"?
"meme" is spelled M-E-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /miːm/.
What does "meme" mean?
As a noun, "meme" means: Any unit of (originally cultural) information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
What words are commonly confused with "meme"?
"meme" is commonly confused with "MM", "men", "mom". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "meme"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "meme" is /miːm/. 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 "meme"?
Clipping of mimeme, equivalent to mime + -eme. Coined by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Shortened (after gene) from mimeme (compare English phoneme), anglicized as if from a noun derived from Ancient Greek ... 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 "meme", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lone#8,168papa#8,181glow#8,151Reds#8,192

Similar misspelling depth

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

fury5 variantsrode5 variantssung5 variantswool5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list