Methuselah

name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"methuselah" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Methuselah” is uncommon English (frequency #74,313 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#74,313
frequency rank, English
36,575
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The oldest person whose age is recorded in the Hebrew Bible, having reportedly lived 969 years.

Corpus desk

Index EN-methuselah · Methuselah · English

Methuselah · rank #74,313 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #74,313
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 36,575
  • PHOTO-FINISH metamorphism

Nearest frequency peer: metamorphism (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “Methuselah”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “Methuselah” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026
Key facts for Methuselah
PropertyValue
HeadwordMethuselah
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters10
Frequency rank#74,313
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Methuselah” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Methuselah lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Methuselah is uncommon English at frequency #74,313 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Methuselah has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Hebrew מְתוּשֶׁלַח (M'tušelaḥ), also spelled מְתוּשָׁלַח (M'tušalaḥ). The planet's name stems from the fact that, at the time of its discovery in 2003, it was the oldest known planet. The correct English form is Methuselah, spelled M-E-T-H-U-S-E-L-A-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    The oldest person whose age is recorded in the Hebrew Bible, having reportedly lived 969 years.
  2. 2
    A planet in the PSR B1620-26 star system, Messier 4 globular cluster, Milky Way Galaxy, Scorpius constellation; a circumbinary planet, officially named PSR B1620-26 b, orbiting a pulsar (“PSR B1620-26 A”) and white dwarf (“WD B1620-26 B”).

Etymology

From Hebrew מְתוּשֶׁלַח (M'tušelaḥ), also spelled מְתוּשָׁלַח (M'tušalaḥ). The planet's name stems from the fact that, at the time of its discovery in 2003, it was the oldest known planet.

This word in other languages

Matusalén(Español)Mathusalem(Français)Methusalem(Deutsch)

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 May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Methuselah"?
"Methuselah" is spelled M-E-T-H-U-S-E-L-A-H.
What does "Methuselah" mean?
As a proper noun, "Methuselah" means: The oldest person whose age is recorded in the Hebrew Bible, having reportedly lived 969 years.
What is the origin of the word "Methuselah"?
From Hebrew מְתוּשֶׁלַח (M'tušelaḥ), also spelled מְתוּשָׁלַח (M'tušalaḥ). The planet's name stems from the fact that, at the time of its discovery in 2003, it was the oldest known planet. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Methuselah", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Michaelson#74,316McReynolds#74,303Matsushita#74,299necromancy#74,344
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list