metta

noun

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

"metta" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“metta” is uncommon English (frequency #60,957 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,957
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lovingkindness or compassion, especially if developed through meditation or mindfulness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-metta · metta · English

metta · rank #60,957 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,957
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH meshing

Nearest frequency peer: meshing (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “metta”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “metta” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for metta
PropertyValue
Headwordmetta
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters5
Frequency rank#60,957
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “metta” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).mettafalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “meshing” (#60,956), “Meru” (#60,954), “milliner” (#60,960). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “metta” is #60,957. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

metta is uncommon English at frequency #60,957 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Lovingkindness or compassion, especially if developed through meditation or mindfulness.".

metta has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Pali mettā. The correct English form is metta, spelled M-E-T-T-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lovingkindness or compassion, especially if developed through meditation or mindfulness.

Etymology

From Pali mettā.

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

How do you spell "metta"?
"metta" is spelled M-E-T-T-A.
What does "metta" mean?
As a noun, "metta" means: Lovingkindness or compassion, especially if developed through meditation or mindfulness.
What is the origin of the word "metta"?
From Pali mettā. 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 "metta", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Newby#60,987Nikes#60,989nippy#60,991nishi#60,992

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list