military

/ˈmɪl.ɪ.t(ə.)ɹi/

//ˈmɪl.ɪ.t(ə.)ɹi// adj

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

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

The verdict

“military” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #638. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#638
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Characteristic of members of the armed forces.

Corpus desk

Index EN-military · military · English

military · rank #638 · 12 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #638
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH likely

Nearest frequency peer: likely (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “military”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “military” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

military vs militant
75% similar
military vs militancy
78% similar
military vs militarily
80% similar

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

Key facts for military
PropertyValue
Headwordmilitary
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈmɪl.ɪ.t(ə.)ɹi/
Letters8
Frequency rank#638
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “military”

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).militarylands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “likely” (#637), “perfect” (#639), “lead” (#636). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “military” is #638. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around military (IPA /ˈmɪl.ɪ.t(ə.)ɹi/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #638 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for military, with forms such as "imlitary", "miiltary", and "miliatry". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "militant", "militancy", "militarily", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English militari, from Old French militaire, from Latin mīlitāris, from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militaire. The correct English form is military, spelled M-I-L-I-T-A-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Characteristic of members of the armed forces.
  2. 2
    Relating to armed forces such as the army, marines, navy and air force (often as distinguished from civilians or police forces).
  3. 3
    Relating to war.
  4. 4
    Relating to armies or ground forces.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She was dishonorably discharged from all military duties.
  2. "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely very clear that that…

Etymology

From Middle English militari, from Old French militaire, from Latin mīlitāris, from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militaire.

This word in other languages

militar(Español)Militär-(Deutsch)militar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • imlitary
  • miiltary
  • miliatry
  • militarry
  • militaryy
  • militayr
  • militray
  • milittary
  • millitary
  • miltiary
  • mliitary
  • mmilitary

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of military - 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.

imlitary2miiltary2miliatry2militarry1militaryy1militayr2militray2milittary1
Edit distance from "military"

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 "military"?
"military" is spelled M-I-L-I-T-A-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɪl.ɪ.t(ə.)ɹi/.
What does "military" mean?
As an adjective, "military" means: Characteristic of members of the armed forces.
What words are commonly confused with "military"?
"military" is commonly confused with "militant", "militancy", "militarily". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "military"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "military" is /ˈmɪl.ɪ.t(ə.)ɹi/. 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 "military"?
From Middle English militari, from Old French militaire, from Latin mīlitāris, from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militaire. 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 "military", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

personal#640security#641happened#634position#624

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

beautiful12 variantstraining12 variantswouldn't12 variantsinterest12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list