mitre
/ˈmaɪtəɹ/
"mitre" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mitre” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #45,521 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #45,521
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A covering for the head, worn on solemn occasions by church dignitaries, which has been made in many forms, mostly recently a tall cap with two points or peaks.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | mitre |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmaɪtəɹ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #45,521 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mitre” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for mitre is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmaɪtəɹ/. Corpus data places it at rank #45,521 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for mitre, with forms such as "imtre", "mirte", and "miter". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "more", "mute", "mitt", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mytre, from Old French mitre, from Ancient Greek μίτρα (mítra, “headband, turban”). Its use in reference to a counterfeit coin derived from the bishop's mitre stamped upon it. Doublet of Mithras, Mithra, Mitra, and Mehr. The correct English form is mitre, spelled M-I-T-R-E.
Definition
- 1A covering for the head, worn on solemn occasions by church dignitaries, which has been made in many forms, mostly recently a tall cap with two points or peaks.
- 2The surface forming the bevelled end or edge of a piece where a miter joint is made; also, a joint formed or a junction effected by two beveled ends or edges; a miter joint.
- 3A 13th-century coin minted in Europe which circulated in Ireland as a debased counterfeit sterling penny, outlawed under Edward I.
- 4A cap or cowl for a chimney or ventilation pipe.
- 5A gusset in sewing, etc.
- 6A square with one triangular quarter missing from the outside.
- 7A mitre shell
Etymology
From Middle English mytre, from Old French mitre, from Ancient Greek μίτρα (mítra, “headband, turban”). Its use in reference to a counterfeit coin derived from the bishop's mitre stamped upon it. Doublet of Mithras, Mithra, Mitra, and Mehr.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: imtre,mirte,miter,mitrre,mittre,mmitre,mtire
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mitre - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “mitre”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-I-T-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmaɪtəɹ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “more” - see the side-by-side comparison. mitre vs more
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.