minuet

Name: minuet, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“minuet” is uncommon English (frequency #62,325 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,325
frequency rank, English: 36,575
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A slow graceful dance consisting of a coupé, a high step, and a balance.

Key facts for minuet
Property	Value
Headword	minuet
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
Letters	6
Frequency rank	#62,325
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “minuet” 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). minuet lands here:

#62,325

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

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

Rare enough to double-check

minuet is uncommon English at frequency #62,325 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for minuet, 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, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French menuet, from menu (“small”) + -et (“diminutive”), from Latin minutus (“very small”). The correct English form is minuet, spelled M-I-N-U-E-T.

Definition

1
A slow graceful dance consisting of a coupé, a high step, and a balance.
2
A tune or air to regulate the movements of the minuet dance: it has the dance form, and is commonly in 3/4, sometimes 3/8, measure.
3
A complete short musical composition inspired by and conforming to many formal characteristics of the traditional musical accompaniment to the dance of same name.
4
A movement which is part of a longer musical composition such as a suite, sonata, or symphony which is inspired by and conforming to formal characteristics of the dance of same name.

Etymology

From French menuet, from menu (“small”) + -et (“diminutive”), from Latin minutus (“very small”).

This word in other languages

minueto(Español)menuet(Français)

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 "minuet"?

"minuet" is spelled M-I-N-U-E-T.

What does "minuet" mean?

As a noun, "minuet" means: A slow graceful dance consisting of a coupé, a high step, and a balance.

What is the origin of the word "minuet"?

From French menuet, from menu (“small”) + -et (“diminutive”), from Latin minutus (“very small”). 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 “minuet”

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

The one correct English spelling is M-I-N-U-E-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.