moan
/məʊn/
"moan" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“moan” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #17,901 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #17,901
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A low, mournful cry of pain, sorrow or pleasure.
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 | moan |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /məʊn/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #17,901 |
| Misspellings tracked | 3 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “moan” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for moan is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /məʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #17,901 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for moan, with forms such as "maon", "mmoan", and "moann". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mom", "mob", "mod", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English mone, mane, mān, (also as mene), from Old English *mān, *mǣn (“complaint; lamentation”), from Proto-West Germanic *mainu, from Proto-Germanic *mainō (“opinion; mind”). Cognate with Old Frisian mēne (“opinion”), Old High German meina (“op… The correct English form is moan, spelled M-O-A-N.
Definition
- 1A low, mournful cry of pain, sorrow or pleasure.
- 2A lament or sorrow.
Etymology
From Middle English mone, mane, mān, (also as mene), from Old English *mān, *mǣn (“complaint; lamentation”), from Proto-West Germanic *mainu, from Proto-Germanic *mainō (“opinion; mind”). Cognate with Old Frisian mēne (“opinion”), Old High German meina (“opinion”). Old English *mān, *mǣn is inferred from Old English mǣnan (“to complain over; grieve; mourn”). More at mean.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: maon,mmoan,moann
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of moan - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “moan”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /məʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mom” - see the side-by-side comparison. moan vs mom
- 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.