Menelaus

/ˌmɛn.ɪˈleɪ.əs/

//ˌmɛn.ɪˈleɪ.əs// name

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

The verdict

“Menelaus” is uncommon English (frequency #61,627 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#61,627
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The king of Mycenaean Sparta, the husband of Helen of Troy, the brother of Agamemnon, and the leader of the Spartan contingent of the Greek army during the Trojan War.

Corpus desk

Index EN-menelaus · Menelaus · English

Menelaus · rank #61,627 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #61,627
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH melancholia

Nearest frequency peer: melancholia (-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 “Menelaus”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Menelaus
PropertyValue
HeadwordMenelaus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˌmɛn.ɪˈleɪ.əs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#61,627
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Menelaus” 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).Menelausfalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “melancholia” (#61,626), “maxillofacial” (#61,623), “midriff” (#61,632). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “Menelaus” is #61,627. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Menelaus is uncommon English at frequency #61,627 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˌmɛn.ɪˈleɪ.əs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The king of Mycenaean Sparta, the husband of Helen of Troy, the brother of Agamemnon, and the leader of the Spartan contingent of the Greek army during the Trojan War.".

Menelaus doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Menelāus, from Ancient Greek Μενέλαος (Menélaos). The correct English form is Menelaus, spelled M-E-N-E-L-A-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The king of Mycenaean Sparta, the husband of Helen of Troy, the brother of Agamemnon, and the leader of the Spartan contingent of the Greek army during the Trojan War.

Etymology

From Latin Menelāus, from Ancient Greek Μενέλαος (Menélaos).

This word in other languages

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 "Menelaus"?
"Menelaus" is spelled M-E-N-E-L-A-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌmɛn.ɪˈleɪ.əs/.
What does "Menelaus" mean?
As a proper noun, "Menelaus" means: The king of Mycenaean Sparta, the husband of Helen of Troy, the brother of Agamemnon, and the leader of the Spartan contingent of the Greek army during the Trojan War.
How do you pronounce "Menelaus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Menelaus" is /ˌmɛn.ɪˈleɪ.əs/. 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 "Menelaus"?
From Latin Menelāus, from Ancient Greek Μενέλαος (Menélaos). 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 "Menelaus", 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