methanol
/ˈmɛθənɒl/
"methanol" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“methanol” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,740 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #29,740
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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.
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) |
Where “methanol” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for methanol is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɛθənɒl/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,740 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "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.
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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Using “methanol”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-T-H-A-N-O-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɛθənɒl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “methane” - see the side-by-side comparison. methanol vs methane
- 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.