merlin
/ˈmɝlɪn/
"merlin" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“merlin” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,749 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #16,749
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small falcon, Falco columbarius, that breeds in northern North America, Europe, and Asia.
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 | merlin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɝlɪn/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #16,749 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “merlin” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for merlin is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɝlɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,749 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A small falcon, Falco columbarius, that breeds in northern North America, Europe, and Asia.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for merlin, with forms such as "emrlin", "melrin", and "meriln". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Morin", "Merton", "Merlot", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English merlioun, merlion, marlyon, merlyon, merlinge, from Old French emerillon, esmerillon, from Old Frankish *smiril (“falcon, hawk”), from Proto-Germanic *smirilaz (“falcon, merlin”). Cognate with Old High German smirl (“falcon”), Old Norse … The correct English form is merlin, spelled M-E-R-L-I-N.
Definition
- 1A small falcon, Falco columbarius, that breeds in northern North America, Europe, and Asia.
Etymology
From Middle English merlioun, merlion, marlyon, merlyon, merlinge, from Old French emerillon, esmerillon, from Old Frankish *smiril (“falcon, hawk”), from Proto-Germanic *smirilaz (“falcon, merlin”). Cognate with Old High German smirl (“falcon”), Old Norse smyrill (“falcon”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emrlin,melrin,meriln,merlinn,merllin,merlni,merrlin,mmerlin,mrelin
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of merlin - 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 “merlin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-R-L-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɝlɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Morin” - see the side-by-side comparison. merlin vs Morin
- 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.