merino
/məˈɹiːnəʊ/
"merino" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“merino” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,192 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #34,192
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A sheep of a Spanish breed with long, fine hair.
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 | merino |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /məˈɹiːnəʊ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #34,192 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “merino” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for merino is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /məˈɹiːnəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,192 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for merino, with forms such as "emrino", "meirno", and "merinno". 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 14 confusable-pair relationships, "mino", "merit", "Morin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Spanish merino. The correct English form is merino, spelled M-E-R-I-N-O.
Definition
- 1A sheep of a Spanish breed with long, fine hair.
- 2The wool of this sheep.
- 3The fabric made from this wool (or from any similar yarn).
- 4A dress made out of merino fabric.
- 5A yarn made from a combination of wool and cotton in imitation of this wool.
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish merino.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emrino,meirno,merinno,merion,mernio,merrino,mmerino,mreino
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of merino - 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
How do you spell "merino"?
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Using “merino”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-R-I-N-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /məˈɹiːnəʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mino” - see the side-by-side comparison. merino vs mino
- 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.