methyl
/ˈmɛθaɪl/
"methyl" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“methyl” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,869. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #21,869
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH₃-, formally derived from methane by the loss of a hydrogen atom; a compound or part of a compound formed by the attachment of such a radical.
Corpus desk
Index EN-methyl · methyl · English
methyl · rank #21,869 · 10 variants · 6 confusables
- FREQ-MID #21,869
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH meteorology
Nearest frequency peer: meteorology (-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 “methyl”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- metaphysical
metaphysical
78,134 corpus weight
- meteorology
meteorology
78,133 corpus weight
- methyl
methyl
78,132 corpus weight
- mindless
mindless
78,131 corpus weight
- misconcepti…
misconception
78,130 corpus weight
- mislead
mislead
78,129 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “methyl” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | methyl |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɛθaɪl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #21,869 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “methyl” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around methyl (IPA /ˈmɛθaɪl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,869 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH₃-, formally derived from methane by the loss of a hydrogen atom; a compound or part of a compound formed by the attachment of such a radical.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for methyl, with forms such as "emthyl", "mehtyl", and "methhyl". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "meth", "metal", "Meryl", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Methyl; compare French méthyle. 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”) w… The correct English form is methyl, spelled M-E-T-H-Y-L.
Definition
- 1The univalent hydrocarbon radical, CH₃-, formally derived from methane by the loss of a hydrogen atom; a compound or part of a compound formed by the attachment of such a radical.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how methyl appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
You might point out in the theory of oxidation of oils, in development of rancidity in oils, that many methyls accelerate this oxidation of oils. I do not want to burden you with a lecture on chemistry but there are some methyls like iron which has both a valence of two and of three. Another example is cobalt which has a valence of both two and three.
The southern acetates must be decarboxylated to methyls.
Etymology
Borrowed from German Methyl; compare French méthyle. 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)". The term "methyl" was derived in about 1840 by back-formation from "methylene", and was then applied to describe "methyl alcohol".
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- emthyl
- mehtyl
- methhyl
- methly
- methyll
- methyyl
- metthyl
- metyhl
- mmethyl
- mtehyl
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of methyl - 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 "methyl", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "methyl". Here's where to go from here.
- "methyl" maps to 6 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "meth". View pair
- 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #21,869 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "M" letter cohort. M–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.