moment
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "moment", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "moment" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "moment" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
moment is aEnglishnoun. It means: A particular point, or relatively small region. Pronounced /momən(ʔ)/. It ranks #575 in English word frequency. Often confused with mont and mount.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | moment |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /momən(ʔ)/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #575 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for moment is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /momən(ʔ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #575 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for moment, with forms such as "mmoent", "mmoment", and "moemnt". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "mont", "mount", "Monet", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English moment, from Old French moment, from Latin mōmentum. Doublet of momentum and movement. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is moment, spelled M-O-M-E-N-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A particular point, or relatively small region.
- 2A particular point, or relatively small region.
- 3A brief, unspecified amount of time.
- 4Weight or importance.
- 5Ellipsis of moment of force.
- 6A definite period of time, specifically one-tenth of a point, or one-fortieth or one-fiftieth of an hour.
- 7A petit mal episode; such a spell.
- 8A fit; a brief tantrum.
- 9An infinitesimal change in a varying quantity; an increment or decrement.
- 10A quantitative measure of the shape of a set of points.
- 11An embarrassing event, supposed to be characteristic of some person, group, or situation.
- 12The current center of public attention and awe; the most important celebrity in their prime.
Etymology
From Middle English moment, from Old French moment, from Latin mōmentum. Doublet of momentum and movement.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmoent,mmoment,moemnt,momennt,momentt,mometn,momment,momnet,omment
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for moment
Misspelling Variants of "moment"
Frequency rank: #575 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "moment"?
What does "moment" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "moment"?
How do you pronounce "moment"?
What is the origin of the word "moment"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index: