Minos

/ˈmaɪnɒs/

//ˈmaɪnɒs// name

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

"minos" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Minos” is uncommon English (frequency #60,285 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,285
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The mythological first king of Crete, a son of Zeus by Europa, who imprisoned the Minotaur in a labyrinth and after death was made a judge of the dead in Hades; a putative corresponding historical ...

Corpus desk

Index EN-minos · Minos · English

Minos · rank #60,285 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,285
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH minutely

Nearest frequency peer: minutely (+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 “Minos”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Minos
PropertyValue
HeadwordMinos
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈmaɪnɒs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#60,285
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Minos” 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).Minosfalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “minutely” (#60,286), “Michiko” (#60,283), “miter” (#60,287). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “Minos” is #60,285. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Minos is uncommon English at frequency #60,285 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈmaɪnɒs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The mythological first king of Crete, a son of Zeus by Europa, who imprisoned the Minotaur in a labyrinth and after death was made a judge of the dead in Hades; a putative corresponding historical ...".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Minos, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek Μῑ́νως (Mī́nōs). The correct English form is Minos, spelled M-I-N-O-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The mythological first king of Crete, a son of Zeus by Europa, who imprisoned the Minotaur in a labyrinth and after death was made a judge of the dead in Hades; a putative corresponding historical person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. At length we arrived at the gate of Elysium. Here was a prodigious crowd of spirits waiting for admittance, some of whom were admitted, and some were rejected; for all were strictly examined by the porter, whom I soon discovered to be the celebrated judge Minos.
  2. That the Cyclades were subject to Minos, is confirmed by numerous traces; and the general belief of the ancients was, that he founded colonies even in Lemnos and Thrace.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Μῑ́νως (Mī́nōs).

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 "Minos"?
"Minos" is spelled M-I-N-O-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmaɪnɒs/.
What does "Minos" mean?
As a proper noun, "Minos" means: The mythological first king of Crete, a son of Zeus by Europa, who imprisoned the Minotaur in a labyrinth and after death was made a judge of the dead in Hades; a putative corresponding historical ...
How do you pronounce "Minos"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Minos" is /ˈmaɪnɒs/. 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 "Minos"?
From Ancient Greek Μῑ́νως (Mī́nōs). 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 "Minos", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

miter#60,287Mehra#60,279nobly#60,313maida#60,255

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list