mew

/mjuː/

//mjuː// noun

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

"mew" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mew” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #28,994) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#28,994
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A gull, seagull.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mew · mew · English

mew · rank #28,994 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,994
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH militarily

Nearest frequency peer: militarily (+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 neighbours of confusable “mew”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “mew” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mew vs my
33% similar
mew vs Mr
0% similar
mew vs MS
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mew
PropertyValue
Headwordmew
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/mjuː/
Letters3
Frequency rank#28,994
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “mew”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).mewlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “militarily” (#28,995), “metastatic” (#28,992), “minced” (#28,996). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mew” is #28,994. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for mew is neighbouring look-alikes ("my", "Mr", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /mjuː/. Frequency #28,994 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Gloss: "A gull, seagull.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for mew in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "my", "Mr", "MS", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mewe, mowe, meau, from Old English mǣw (“seagull”), from Proto-West Germanic *maiwī, from Proto-Germanic *mai(h)waz (“seagull”). See also West Frisian meau, miuw, Dutch meeuw, German Möwe (whence Polish mewa); akin to Latvian maût (“to r… The correct English form is mew, spelled M-E-W.

Definition

  1. 1
    A gull, seagull.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how mew appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. A daungerous and detestable place, To which nor fish nor fowle did once approch, But yelling Meawes, with Seagulles hoarse and bace […]
  2. From helm to sea they saw him leap, As arrow from the string, And dive into the water deep, As mew upon the wing.

Etymology

From Middle English mewe, mowe, meau, from Old English mǣw (“seagull”), from Proto-West Germanic *maiwī, from Proto-Germanic *mai(h)waz (“seagull”). See also West Frisian meau, miuw, Dutch meeuw, German Möwe (whence Polish mewa); akin to Latvian maût (“to roar”), Old Church Slavonic мꙑꙗти (myjati, “to mew”).

This word in other languages

mouette(Français)Möwe(Deutsch)gaivota(Português)

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 "mew"?
"mew" is spelled M-E-W. The IPA pronunciation is /mjuː/.
What does "mew" mean?
As a noun, "mew" means: A gull, seagull.
What words are commonly confused with "mew"?
"mew" is commonly confused with "my", "Mr", "MS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mew"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mew" is /mjuː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mew"?
From Middle English mewe, mowe, meau, from Old English mǣw (“seagull”), from Proto-West Germanic *maiwī, from Proto-Germanic *mai(h)waz (“seagull”). See also West Frisian meau, miuw, Dutch meeuw, German Möwe (whence Polish mewa); akin to Latvian m... 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 "mew", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mes#28,991Lui#28,983NDA#29,009nix#29,013

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list