methanol
/ˈmɛθənɒl/
"methanol" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“methanol” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #29,740. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #29,740
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The simplest aliphatic alcohol, CH₃OH; a colourless, toxic, inflammable liquid, used as a solvent, antifreeze, in the chemical industry, and in the preparation of methylated spirit.
Corpus desk
Index EN-methanol · methanol · English
methanol · rank #29,740 · 12 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #29,740
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-MID 12 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH methadone
Nearest frequency peer: methadone (-1 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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “methanol”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- menswear
menswear
70,264 corpus weight
- meritorious
meritorious
70,263 corpus weight
- methadone
methadone
70,262 corpus weight
- methanol
methanol
70,261 corpus weight
- MI6
MI6
70,260 corpus weight
- millet
millet
70,259 corpus weight
What this shows “methanol” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | methanol |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɛθənɒl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #29,740 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “methanol”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around methanol (IPA /ˈmɛθənɒl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,740 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The simplest aliphatic alcohol, CH₃OH; a colourless, toxic, inflammable liquid, used as a solvent, antifreeze, in the chemical industry, and in the preparation of methylated spirit.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for methanol, with forms such as "emthanol", "mehtanol", and "metahnol". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "methane", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From methane + -ol. French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot, after determining methanol's chemical structure, introduced "methylene" from the Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu, “wine”) + ὕλη (húlē, “wood, material”) with the intention of highlighting… The correct English form is methanol, spelled M-E-T-H-A-N-O-L.
Definition
- 1The simplest aliphatic alcohol, CH₃OH; a colourless, toxic, inflammable liquid, used as a solvent, antifreeze, in the chemical industry, and in the preparation of methylated spirit.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how methanol appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Eight staff members of a backpacker hostel in Laos have been detained by local authorities as they investigate the deaths of six foreign tourists from suspected methanol poisoning, according to state-affiliated media in the Southeast Asian country.
Etymology
From methane + -ol. French chemists Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot, after determining methanol's chemical structure, introduced "methylene" from the Ancient Greek μέθυ (méthu, “wine”) + ὕλη (húlē, “wood, material”) with the intention of highlighting its origins, "alcohol made from wood (substance)".
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- emthanol
- mehtanol
- metahnol
- methanlo
- methannol
- methanoll
- methaonl
- methhanol
- methnaol
- metthanol
- mmethanol
- mtehanol
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of methanol - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "methanol", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).