meow
/miˈaʊ/
"meow" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“meow” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,903 in English word frequency and used as an interjection.
- #19,903
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Used to indicate the cry of a cat.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | meow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /miˈaʊ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #19,903 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “meow” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for meow is 4 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /miˈaʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,903 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for meow, with forms such as "emow", "meoww", and "mewo". 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, "MO", "MW", "mom", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration of earlier mew, from Middle English mewen, mouwen (“to mew, meow”), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Saterland Frisian mauje, miauje (“to meow”), West Frisian miaukje (“to meow”), Dutch miauwen (“to meow”), Middle Low German mauwen, mawen, mouwen … The correct English form is meow, spelled M-E-O-W.
Definition
- 1Used to indicate the cry of a cat.
- 2Used in reply to a spiteful or catty comment.
- 3Used to express seductiveness, mimicking a growl.
Etymology
Alteration of earlier mew, from Middle English mewen, mouwen (“to mew, meow”), of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Saterland Frisian mauje, miauje (“to meow”), West Frisian miaukje (“to meow”), Dutch miauwen (“to meow”), Middle Low German mauwen, mawen, mouwen (“to meow”) (whence modern German Low German mauen, miauen (“to meow”)), Middle High German mouen, modern German miauen (“to meow”). Some spellings were modelled on French miaou. Meow and its spelling variants entered widespread currency in the 19th century, mostly replacing mew, possibly because phonetic change meant that word had ceased to approximate a cat's cry (contrast the pronunciation of Middle English mewen /ˈmɛu̯ən/ compared to modern /ˈmjuː/). (mephedrone): Perhaps because of the drug's distinctive smell resembling cat urine.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emow,meoww,mewo,mmeow,moew
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of meow - 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.
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
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Using “meow”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-O-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /miˈaʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “MO” - see the side-by-side comparison. meow vs MO
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.