militia

/məˈlɪʃə/

//məˈlɪʃə// noun

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

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

The verdict

“militia” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,578 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,578
frequency rank, English
7
letters
9
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not ...

Key facts for militia
PropertyValue
Headwordmilitia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/məˈlɪʃə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#8,578
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “militia” 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). militia lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for militia is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /məˈlɪʃə/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,578 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for militia, with forms such as "imlitia", "miiltia", and "miliita". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin mīlitia (“army, military force/service”), from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militsia. The use of "militia" rather than "police" to refer to the police force (of Belarus and some other countries) originated in the USSR. The correct English form is militia, spelled M-I-L-I-T-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control.
  2. 2
    Synonym of militsia: the national police force of certain countries (e.g. Belarus).

Etymology

From Latin mīlitia (“army, military force/service”), from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militsia. The use of "militia" rather than "police" to refer to the police force (of Belarus and some other countries) originated in the USSR.

This word in other languages

milicia(Español)milice(Français)Miliz(Deutsch)milícia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: imlitia,miiltia,miliita,militai,milittia,millitia,miltiia,mliitia,mmilitia

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of militia - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

imlitia2miiltia2miliita2militai2milittia1millitia1miltiia2mliitia2
Edit distance from "militia"

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 "militia"?
"militia" is spelled M-I-L-I-T-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /məˈlɪʃə/.
What does "militia" mean?
As a noun, "militia" means: An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not ...
What are common misspellings of "militia"?
Common misspellings include "imlitia", "miiltia", "miliita", "militai", "milittia". The correct spelling is "militia".
How do you pronounce "militia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "militia" is /məˈlɪʃə/. 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 "militia"?
From Latin mīlitia (“army, military force/service”), from mīles (“soldier”). Doublet of militsia. The use of "militia" rather than "police" to refer to the police force (of Belarus and some other countries) originated in the USSR. 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 “militia”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is M-I-L-I-T-I-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /məˈlɪʃə/ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list