meniscus

/məˈnɪs.kəs/

//məˈnɪs.kəs// noun

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

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

The verdict

“meniscus” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #38,498. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#38,498
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A crescent moon, or an object shaped like it.

Corpus desk

Index EN-meniscus · meniscus · English

meniscus · rank #38,498 · 12 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #38,498
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Mendel

Nearest frequency peer: Mendel (-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 “meniscus”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “meniscus” 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 meniscus
PropertyValue
Headwordmeniscus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/məˈnɪs.kəs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#38,498
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “meniscus”

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).meniscuslands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Mendel” (#38,497), “menthol” (#38,499), “Mehmet” (#38,496). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “meniscus” is #38,498. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around meniscus (IPA /məˈnɪs.kəs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #38,498 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 meniscus, with forms such as "emniscus", "meinscus", and "menicsus". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek μηνίσκος (mēnískos, “crescent”), from μήνη (mḗnē, “moon”). Piecewise doublet of moonish. The correct English form is meniscus, spelled M-E-N-I-S-C-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A crescent moon, or an object shaped like it.
  2. 2
    A lens which is convex on one side and concave on the other, being crescent-shaped in cross-section.
  3. 3
    The curved surface of liquids in tubes, whether concave or convex, caused by the surface tension of the liquid.
  4. 4
    Either of two parts of the human knee that provide structural integrity to the knee when it undergoes tension and torsion.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. And from Crabbe's own forehead sweat dripped or gathered into a kind of meniscus to be scooped off.
  2. He opened wide both casements; they gave on a parking place four floors below; the thin meniscus overhead was too wan to illumine the roofs of the houses descending toward the invisible lake [...].

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μηνίσκος (mēnískos, “crescent”), from μήνη (mḗnē, “moon”). Piecewise doublet of moonish.

This word in other languages

menisco(Español)ménisque(Français)Meniskus(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emniscus
  • meinscus
  • menicsus
  • menisccus
  • meniscsu
  • meniscuss
  • menisscus
  • menisucs
  • menniscus
  • mensicus
  • mmeniscus
  • mneiscus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

emniscus2meinscus2menicsus2menisccus1meniscsu2meniscuss1menisscus1menisucs2
Edit distance from "meniscus"

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 "meniscus"?
"meniscus" is spelled M-E-N-I-S-C-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /məˈnɪs.kəs/.
What does "meniscus" mean?
As a noun, "meniscus" means: A crescent moon, or an object shaped like it.
What are common misspellings of "meniscus"?
Common misspellings include "emniscus", "meinscus", "menicsus", "menisccus", "meniscsu". The correct spelling is "meniscus".
How do you pronounce "meniscus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "meniscus" is /məˈnɪs.kəs/. 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 "meniscus"?
From Ancient Greek μηνίσκος (mēnískos, “crescent”), from μήνη (mḗnē, “moon”). Piecewise doublet of moonish. 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 "meniscus", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

megatron#38,495mightily#38,501monotone#38,504Mordecai#38,506

Similar misspelling depth

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

McDougall12 variantsNaismith12 variantsLagrange12 variantskrypton12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list