milch
/mɪlt͡ʃ/
"milch" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“milch” is an uncommon English word, ranked #78,825 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #78,825
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Used to produce milk; dairy.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | milch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /mɪlt͡ʃ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #78,825 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “milch” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for milch is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /mɪlt͡ʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #78,825 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for milch, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English milche, melche, from Old English *melċe, *milċe (attested in þrimilċe, þrimelċes mōnaþ), from Proto-Germanic *milkijaz, *melkijaz from Proto-Germanic *melkaz (“milky, milk-giving”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (“to wipe, wipe off, … The correct English form is milch, spelled M-I-L-C-H.
Definition
- 1Used to produce milk; dairy.
- 2Currently producing milk for its offspring.
- 3Tender; pitiful; weeping.
Etymology
From Middle English milche, melche, from Old English *melċe, *milċe (attested in þrimilċe, þrimelċes mōnaþ), from Proto-Germanic *milkijaz, *melkijaz from Proto-Germanic *melkaz (“milky, milk-giving”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (“to wipe, wipe off, milk”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian meelk (“milch”), Low German melke (“milch”), German melk (“milk-giving, milch”), Alemannic German mëlch (“milch, milkable”), Icelandic milkur, mjólkur (“milk-giving”). More at milk. Compare milchig.
This word in other languages
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 “milch”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-I-L-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /mɪlt͡ʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.