milepost

/ˈmaɪlˌpoʊst/

//ˈmaɪlˌpoʊst// noun

"milepost" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“milepost” is uncommon English (frequency #76,990 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,990
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A post on a highway, often with one or more fingerposts, showing the distance in miles to nearby places.

Corpus desk

Index EN-milepost · milepost · English

milepost · rank #76,990 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,990
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH microglia

Nearest frequency peer: microglia (-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 “milepost”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for milepost
PropertyValue
Headwordmilepost
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmaɪlˌpoʊst/
Letters8
Frequency rank#76,990
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “milepost” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).milepostfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “microglia” (#76,989), “microenvironment” (#76,988), “Michoacán” (#76,987). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “milepost” is #76,990. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

milepost is uncommon English at frequency #76,990 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmaɪlˌpoʊst/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

milepost has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From mile + post. The correct English form is milepost, spelled M-I-L-E-P-O-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A post on a highway, often with one or more fingerposts, showing the distance in miles to nearby places.
  2. 2
    A sign or post beside a railway marking the distance from the (actual or nominal) start of a line (usually the principal terminus or junction with a more major line).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. But beyond these cut-offs, to avoid the wholesale alteration of all mileposting and mileages—of bridges and culverts, for example—the original mileposts have remained unaltered.
  2. [...] the 4 miles at 1 in 180 up to Sanquhar were mounted with no greater fall in speed than from 65 to 59 m.p.h., after which, possibly as a result of easing the engine or because the strain on steam supply was beginning to tell, the final 3½ miles up at 1 in 200 up to milepost 59½ were surmounted at a minimum of 49½ m.p.h.

Etymology

From mile + post.

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 "milepost"?
"milepost" is spelled M-I-L-E-P-O-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmaɪlˌpoʊst/.
What does "milepost" mean?
As a noun, "milepost" means: A post on a highway, often with one or more fingerposts, showing the distance in miles to nearby places.
How do you pronounce "milepost"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "milepost" is /ˈmaɪlˌpoʊst/. 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 "milepost"?
From mile + post. 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 "milepost", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list