methyl
/ˈmɛθaɪl/
"methyl" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“methyl” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #21,869 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #21,869
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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.
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for methyl is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɛθaɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,869 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "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.
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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Using “methyl”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-T-H-Y-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɛθaɪl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “meth” - see the side-by-side comparison. methyl vs meth
- 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.