miRNA

noun

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

The verdict

“miRNA” is uncommon English (frequency #53,101 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,101
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A microRNA.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mirna · miRNA · English

miRNA · rank #53,101 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,101
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH metrology

Nearest frequency peer: metrology (-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 “miRNA”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for miRNA
PropertyValue
HeadwordmiRNA
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters5
Frequency rank#53,101
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “miRNA” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).miRNAfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “metrology” (#53,100), “Methodism” (#53,099), “Mitcham” (#53,104). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “miRNA” is #53,101. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

miRNA is uncommon English at frequency #53,101 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A microRNA.".

miRNA doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From microRNA. The seminal article on microRNAs did not introduce the abbreviation miRNA nor the term microRNA, but rather referred to the entities as small RNAs. The correct English form is miRNA, spelled M-I-R-N-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A microRNA.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. There are ~80 genes in the C elegans genome coding for miRNAs that are twenty-one to twenty-four nucleotides long.
  2. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) finely regulate gene expression and play an important role in various cellular processes, including cell growth, differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis.

Etymology

From microRNA. The seminal article on microRNAs did not introduce the abbreviation miRNA nor the term microRNA, but rather referred to the entities as small RNAs.

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 "miRNA"?
"miRNA" is spelled M-I-R-N-A.
What does "miRNA" mean?
As a noun, "miRNA" means: A microRNA.
What is the origin of the word "miRNA"?
From microRNA. The seminal article on microRNAs did not introduce the abbreviation miRNA nor the term microRNA, but rather referred to the entities as small RNAs. 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 "miRNA", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list