moly
/ˈməʊli/noun
moly is spelled M-O-L-Y: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, moly means “A magic herb or plant used by Odysseus to overcome Circe” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of moly is molies.
How many letters and syllables are in moly?
| Letters | 4: M-O-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is moly?
Moly appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce moly?
- UK /ˈməʊli/
As a noun (“Molybdenum”): /ˈmɒli/.
Moly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-moly.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-moly2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with moly?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as moly from its last stressed vowel (/əʊli/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of moly
- molies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does moly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A magic herb or plant used by Odysseus to overcome Circe.
I would need all the secret herbs of Dicte […] . I would need as well the rest of my moly stores.
- 2
Any plant associated with the mythological moly, especially the European allium, Allium moly.
- 3
informalMolybdenum.
- 4
slangMolybdenum grease.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does moly come from?
From Latin mōly, from Ancient Greek μῶλυ (môlu) (probably a loanword).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).