mineshaft

/ˈmaɪnˌʃæft/

//ˈmaɪnˌʃæft// noun

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

"mineshaft" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mineshaft” is uncommon English (frequency #90,734 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,734
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A vertical hole through the strata to reach the mineral which is being mined.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mineshaft · mineshaft · English

mineshaft · rank #90,734 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #90,734
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH milord

Nearest frequency peer: milord (-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 “mineshaft”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for mineshaft
PropertyValue
Headwordmineshaft
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmaɪnˌʃæft/
Letters9
Frequency rank#90,734
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “mineshaft” in English

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).mineshaftfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “milord” (#90,733), “Minya” (#90,735), “Miletus” (#90,732). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mineshaft” is #90,734. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

mineshaft is uncommon English at frequency #90,734 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmaɪnˌʃæft/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A vertical hole through the strata to reach the mineral which is being mined.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for mineshaft, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From mine + shaft. The correct English form is mineshaft, spelled M-I-N-E-S-H-A-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A vertical hole through the strata to reach the mineral which is being mined.

Etymology

From mine + shaft.

This word in other languages

socavón(Español)puits de mine(Français)Bergwerksschacht(Deutsch)

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 "mineshaft"?
"mineshaft" is spelled M-I-N-E-S-H-A-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmaɪnˌʃæft/.
What does "mineshaft" mean?
As a noun, "mineshaft" means: A vertical hole through the strata to reach the mineral which is being mined.
How do you pronounce "mineshaft"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mineshaft" is /ˈmaɪnˌʃæft/. 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 "mineshaft"?
From mine + shaft. 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 "mineshaft", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

monadnock#90,742mesoscale#90,721multimode#90,749mutualism#90,750

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list