monophthong
/ˈmɒnəfˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/
"monophthong" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“monophthong” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A vowel (in the sense of a sound rather than a letter of the alphabet) that has the same sound throughout its pronunciation, such as the short vowels in "pap", "pep", "pip", "pop" and "pup", as opp...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | monophthong |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɒnəfˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “monophthong” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
monophthong is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɒnəfˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A vowel (in the sense of a sound rather than a letter of the alphabet) that has the same sound throughout its pronunciation, such as the short vowels in "pap", "pep", "pip", "pop" and "pup", as opp...".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for monophthong, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek μονόφθογγος (monóphthongos), from μόνος (mónos, “single”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound”). The correct English form is monophthong, spelled M-O-N-O-P-H-T-H-O-N-G.
Definition
- 1A vowel (in the sense of a sound rather than a letter of the alphabet) that has the same sound throughout its pronunciation, such as the short vowels in "pap", "pep", "pip", "pop" and "pup", as opposed to a diphthong (eg, /aɪ/, the vowel in "pipe") or a triphthong (eg, /aɪə/, the sound in the non-rhotic pronunciation of "pyre").
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μονόφθογγος (monóphthongos), from μόνος (mónos, “single”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “monophthong”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-N-O-P-H-T-H-O-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɒnəfˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/ (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
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.