milfoil

noun

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

The verdict

“milfoil” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Common yarrow, Achillea millefolium.

Key facts for milfoil
PropertyValue
Headwordmilfoil
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “milfoil” sits in English frequency

milfoil falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

milfoil is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for milfoil in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French milfoil (modern French mille-feuille), from Latin millefolium, from mīlle + folium. Doublet of mille-feuille. The correct English form is milfoil, spelled M-I-L-F-O-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Common yarrow, Achillea millefolium.
  2. 2
    Any of several similar pungent Eurasian herbs, of the genus Achillea
  3. 3
    Any plants of the genus Myriophyllum; water milfoil.

Etymology

From Old French milfoil (modern French mille-feuille), from Latin millefolium, from mīlle + folium. Doublet of mille-feuille.

Synonyms

common yarrowyarrowyarrowwatermilfoilwater milfoil

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "milfoil"?
"milfoil" is spelled M-I-L-F-O-I-L.
What does "milfoil" mean?
As a noun, "milfoil" means: Common yarrow, Achillea millefolium.
What is the origin of the word "milfoil"?
From Old French milfoil (modern French mille-feuille), from Latin millefolium, from mīlle + folium. Doublet of mille-feuille. 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 “milfoil”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is M-I-L-F-O-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list