mirth
/mɜɹθ/noun
mirth is spelled M-I-R-T-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mirth means “The emotion usually following humor and accompanied by laughter” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mirth is mirths.
How many letters and syllables are in mirth?
| Letters | 5: M-I-R-T-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,947th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is mirth?
Mirth appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mirth?
- US /mɜɹθ/
- US [mɝθ]
- UK /mɜːθ/
Mirth has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-mirth.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with mirth?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as mirth from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹθ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of mirth
- mirths plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mirth mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The emotion usually following humor and accompanied by laughter.
- 2
That which causes merriment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mirth in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense merriment:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gaieté |
| German | Fröhlichkeit, Belustigung, Freude |
| Portuguese | alegria, júbilo |
| Spanish | felicidad, alegría, júbilo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mirth come from?
From Middle English merth, myrthe, murhthe, from Old English myrgþ (“mirth, joy”), from Proto-West Germanic *murgiþu (“briefness, brevity”); equivalent to merry + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch merchte (“pleasure, joy, delight”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).