midwife

/ˈmɪd.waɪf/

//ˈmɪd.waɪf// noun

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

"midwife" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“midwife” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,428. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,428
frequency rank, English
36,575
“M” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth, but who is not a physician.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

midwife vs midwifery
78% similar
midwife vs midlife
86% similar
midwife vs midline
71% similar

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

Key facts for midwife
PropertyValue
Headwordmidwife
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɪd.waɪf/
Letters7
Frequency rank#20,428
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “midwife” 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). midwife lands here:

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

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around midwife (IPA /ˈmɪd.waɪf/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,428 among 36,575 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for midwife, with forms such as "imdwife", "mdiwife", and "middwife". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "midwifery", "midlife", "midline", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English midwif, corresponding to mid (“with”) + wif (“woman, wife, female”). It appears not to be entirely clear whether the original understanding was “with-woman” in the sense of “attending/assisting woman”, or “they who are with the woman” (n… The correct English form is midwife, spelled M-I-D-W-I-F-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth, but who is not a physician.
  2. 2
    Someone who assists in bringing about some result or project.

Etymology

From Middle English midwif, corresponding to mid (“with”) + wif (“woman, wife, female”). It appears not to be entirely clear whether the original understanding was “with-woman” in the sense of “attending/assisting woman”, or “they who are with the woman” (namely the mother).

Synonyms

accoucheuse

This word in other languages

partera(Español)sage-femme(Français)Hebamme(Deutsch)parteira(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • imdwife
  • mdiwife
  • middwife
  • midiwfe
  • midwfie
  • midwief
  • midwiffe
  • midwwife
  • miwdife
  • mmidwife

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of midwife - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

imdwife2mdiwife2middwife1midiwfe2midwfie2midwief2midwiffe1midwwife1
Edit distance from "midwife"

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 "midwife"?
"midwife" is spelled M-I-D-W-I-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɪd.waɪf/.
What does "midwife" mean?
As a noun, "midwife" means: A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth, but who is not a physician.
What words are commonly confused with "midwife"?
"midwife" is commonly confused with "midwifery", "midlife", "midline". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "midwife"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "midwife" is /ˈmɪd.waɪf/. 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 "midwife"?
From Middle English midwif, corresponding to mid (“with”) + wif (“woman, wife, female”). It appears not to be entirely clear whether the original understanding was “with-woman” in the sense of “attending/assisting woman”, or “they who are with the... 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.

Using “midwife”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-I-D-W-I-F-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈmɪd.waɪf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “midwifery” - see the side-by-side comparison. midwife vs midwifery
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

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