# merle

> English word · Noun · IPA /mɜːl/ · frequency rank #27,559

## Definitions
1. The Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula.
2. Any blackbird.

## Etymology
From Middle English merle, from Old French merle (French merle), from Latin merula (“blackbird”) (whence the directly borrowed Middle English merule, and compare the taxonomic name Turdus merula), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mes- (“black, blackbird”). Compare Breton moualch (“ouzel”), Welsh mwyalch (“blackbird, thrush”). Distantly related to the synonymous ouzel.

## Easily confused with
- **more** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-more)
- **mile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-mile)
- **mole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-mole)
- **mule** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-mule)
- **mire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-mire)
- **MERS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-mers)
- **Merv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-merv)
- **merry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-merry)
- **metre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-metre)
- **Morse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-morse)
- **Meryl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-meryl)
- **mille** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-mille)
- **morale** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-morale)
- **merlin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-merlin)
- **myrtle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-myrtle)
- **Morley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-morley)
- **Merlot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-merlot)
- **mettle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-mettle)
- **Mersey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/merle-vs-mersey)
- **mel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mel-vs-merle)

## Common misspellings (7)
`emrle`, `melre`, `merel`, `merlle`, `merrle`, `mmerle`, `mrele`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/merle