moccasin
/ˈmɒkəsɪn/
"moccasin" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“moccasin” is uncommon English (frequency #66,840 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #66,840
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A traditional Native North American shoe, usually without a heel or sole, made of a piece of deerskin or other soft leather turned up at the edges which are either stitched together at the top of t...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | moccasin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɒkəsɪn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #66,840 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “moccasin” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
moccasin is uncommon English at frequency #66,840 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɒkəsɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for moccasin in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Powhatan makasin, mockasin, mawhcasuns (plural), from Proto-Algonquian *maxkeseni. The word is cognate with Massachusett mohkisson, mokussin, Mi'kmaq mksɨn, Munsee mahkusin, Ojibwe makizin. First appears c. 1612 in the writings of John Smith. It has be… The correct English form is moccasin, spelled M-O-C-C-A-S-I-N.
Definition
- 1A traditional Native North American shoe, usually without a heel or sole, made of a piece of deerskin or other soft leather turned up at the edges which are either stitched together at the top of the shoe, or sewn to a vamp (a piece covering the top of the foot).
- 2A modern shoe with either a low or no heel resembling a traditional Native American moccasin in that the leather forming the sides of the shoe is stitched at the top.
- 3A light beige colour, like that of a moccasin.
- 4Any of several North American snakes of the genus Agkistrodon, particularly the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and the cottonmouth or water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus).
Etymology
From Powhatan makasin, mockasin, mawhcasuns (plural), from Proto-Algonquian *maxkeseni. The word is cognate with Massachusett mohkisson, mokussin, Mi'kmaq mksɨn, Munsee mahkusin, Ojibwe makizin. First appears c. 1612 in the writings of John Smith. It has been suggested that sense 4 (“North American snake”) may be derived from a different Native American word.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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 “moccasin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-C-C-A-S-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɒkəsɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.