merkin
/ˈmɜːkɪn/
"merkin" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“merkin” is uncommon English (frequency #93,985 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #93,985
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A woman's pubic wig. Worn for nude stage appearances and by women, originally after shaving their pubic hair to eliminate lice or for other reasons, now often as a fashion item.
Corpus desk
Index EN-merkin · merkin · English
merkin · rank #93,985 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #93,985
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH Melfi
Nearest frequency peer: Melfi (-2 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “merkin”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Meccano
Meccano
6,022 corpus weight
- megamind
megamind
6,020 corpus weight
- Melfi
Melfi
6,018 corpus weight
- merkin
merkin
6,016 corpus weight
- metastasize
metastasize
6,013 corpus weight
- MetroCard
MetroCard
6,011 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “merkin” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | merkin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɜːkɪn/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #93,985 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “merkin” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
merkin is uncommon English at frequency #93,985 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɜːkɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for merkin, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: 1617, probably a variant form of malkin, from Malde + -kin. The correct English form is merkin, spelled M-E-R-K-I-N.
Definition
- 1A woman's pubic wig. Worn for nude stage appearances and by women, originally after shaving their pubic hair to eliminate lice or for other reasons, now often as a fashion item.
- 2A mop for cleaning cannon.
- 3The male counterpart of a beard, a companion to a lesbian to feign her straightness.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how merkin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
... his penis squashed invisible under a flesh-colored leather jockstrap, over which he wears a false cunt and merkin of sable both handcrafted in Berlin by the notorious Mme. Ophir, the mock labia and bright purple clitoris molded of — Madame had been abject, pleading shortage — synthetic rubber and Mipolam, the new polyvinyl chloride...
Well, I seem to recall Tori and Patrick being seen together, and a reference in People comes to mind, with a photo attached. I'm not for sure that Patrick is completely gay, but he's at least bi according to a person I know with first hand experience. Perhaps we have a dual merkin-beard relationship here, eh?
Etymology
1617, probably a variant form of malkin, from Malde + -kin.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "merkin", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
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- Usage frequency rank #93,985 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "M" letter cohort. M–Z browse
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PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.