# mole

> English word · Noun · IPA /məʊl/ · frequency rank #11,745

## Definitions
1. A naevus, a pigmented, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy spot on the skin.

## Etymology
From Middle English mole, mool, from Old English māl (“a mole, spot, mark, blemish”), from Proto-West Germanic *mail, from Proto-Germanic *mailą (“spot, wrinkle”), from Proto-Indo-European *mel-, *melw- (“dark, dirty”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey-, *my- (“to soil, sully”).
Cognate with Scots mail (“spot, stain”), Saterland Frisian Moal (“scar”), German dialectal Meil (“spot, stain, blemish”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌻 (mail, “spot, blemish”).

## Easily confused with
- **mom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mom)
- **mon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mon)
- **MoS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mos)
- **mop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mop)
- **MOR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mor)
- **moo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-moo)
- **mou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mou)
- **mot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mot)
- **mow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mow)
- **Moz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-moz)
- **more** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-more)
- **most** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-most)
- **move** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-move)
- **moon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-moon)
- **mood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mood)
- **monk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-monk)
- **moss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-moss)
- **moms** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-moms)
- **mute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-mute)
- **muse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mole-vs-muse)

## Common misspellings (5)
`mloe`, `mmole`, `moel`, `molle`, `omle`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mole