Mishnah

name

"mishnah" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Mishnah” is uncommon English (frequency #54,944 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,944
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The oldest part of the Talmud, rabbinical writings collected by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi and published in 250 C.E. in Javneh (יבנה, in Israel).

Corpus desk

Index EN-mishnah · Mishnah · English

Mishnah · rank #54,944 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,944
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH misfire

Nearest frequency peer: misfire (-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 “Mishnah”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Mishnah
PropertyValue
HeadwordMishnah
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters7
Frequency rank#54,944
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Mishnah” 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).Mishnahfalls 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: “misfire” (#54,943), “mitotic” (#54,945), “Minto” (#54,942). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “Mishnah” is #54,944. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Mishnah is uncommon English at frequency #54,944 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The oldest part of the Talmud, rabbinical writings collected by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi and published in 250 C.E. in Javneh (יבנה, in Israel).".

Mishnah has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. 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: Borrowed from Hebrew מִשְׁנָה (mišnāh, “repetition, oral law”), from שָׁנָה (šānāh, “to repeat, teach”). The correct English form is Mishnah, spelled M-I-S-H-N-A-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    The oldest part of the Talmud, rabbinical writings collected by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi and published in 250 C.E. in Javneh (יבנה, in Israel).

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The Mishnah is believed by Jews to have been handed down orally from the prophet Moses, who received it on Mount Sinai with the written Torah.

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew מִשְׁנָה (mišnāh, “repetition, oral law”), from שָׁנָה (šānāh, “to repeat, teach”).

Synonyms

the Oral Torah

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 "Mishnah"?
"Mishnah" is spelled M-I-S-H-N-A-H.
What does "Mishnah" mean?
As a proper noun, "Mishnah" means: The oldest part of the Talmud, rabbinical writings collected by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi and published in 250 C.E. in Javneh (יבנה, in Israel).
What is the origin of the word "Mishnah"?
Borrowed from Hebrew מִשְׁנָה (mišnāh, “repetition, oral law”), from שָׁנָה (šānāh, “to repeat, teach”). 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 "Mishnah", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list