menthol

/ˈmɛnθɒl/

//ˈmɛnθɒl// noun

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

"menthol" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“menthol” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #38,499. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#38,499
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cyclic monoterpene alcohol; the major component of the essential oil of peppermint; used in pharmaceutical preparations as an antitussive and antipruritic agent, as a nasal decongestant, and in m...

Corpus desk

Index EN-menthol · menthol · English

menthol · rank #38,499 · 11 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #38,499
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH meniscus

Nearest frequency peer: meniscus (-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 “menthol”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “menthol” 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).

menthol vs method
71% similar
menthol vs mentor
71% similar
menthol vs methyl
71% similar

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

Key facts for menthol
PropertyValue
Headwordmenthol
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɛnθɒl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#38,499
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “menthol”

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).menthollands 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 “meniscus” (#38,498), “methodically” (#38,500), “Mendel” (#38,497). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “menthol” is #38,499. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around menthol (IPA /ˈmɛnθɒl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #38,499 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for menthol, with forms such as "emnthol", "menhtol", and "mennthol". 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. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "method", "mentor", "methyl", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin mentha (“mint”) + -ol. The correct English form is menthol, spelled M-E-N-T-H-O-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A cyclic monoterpene alcohol; the major component of the essential oil of peppermint; used in pharmaceutical preparations as an antitussive and antipruritic agent, as a nasal decongestant, and in menthol cigarettes.
  2. 2
    A menthol cigarette.

Etymology

From Latin mentha (“mint”) + -ol.

This word in other languages

mentol(Español)Menthol(Deutsch)mentol(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emnthol
  • menhtol
  • mennthol
  • menthhol
  • menthlo
  • mentholl
  • mentohl
  • mentthol
  • metnhol
  • mmenthol
  • mnethol

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of menthol - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

emnthol2menhtol2mennthol1menthhol1menthlo2mentholl1mentohl2mentthol1
Edit distance from "menthol"

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 "menthol"?
"menthol" is spelled M-E-N-T-H-O-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛnθɒl/.
What does "menthol" mean?
As a noun, "menthol" means: A cyclic monoterpene alcohol; the major component of the essential oil of peppermint; used in pharmaceutical preparations as an antitussive and antipruritic agent, as a nasal decongestant, and in m...
What words are commonly confused with "menthol"?
"menthol" is commonly confused with "method", "mentor", "methyl". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "menthol"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "menthol" is /ˈmɛnθɒl/. 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 "menthol"?
From Latin mentha (“mint”) + -ol. 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 "menthol", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Moseley#38,507matador#38,488Malachi#38,484magnify#38,483

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

monotone11 variantsMordecai11 variantsnostril11 variantsLlewellyn11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list