monotheism

/ˌmɑnoʊ̯ˈθiɪzm̩/

//ˌmɑnoʊ̯ˈθiɪzm̩// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"monotheism" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“monotheism” is uncommon English (frequency #53,111 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,111
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Belief in the One True God, defined by More as personal, immaterial and trinitarian.

Corpus desk

Index EN-monotheism · monotheism · English

monotheism · rank #53,111 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #53,111
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH monopolistic

Nearest frequency peer: monopolistic (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “monotheism”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “monotheism” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for monotheism
PropertyValue
Headwordmonotheism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌmɑnoʊ̯ˈθiɪzm̩/
Letters10
Frequency rank#53,111
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “monotheism” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).monotheismfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “monopolistic” (#53,110), “moonlighting” (#53,113), “Moravia” (#53,114). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “monotheism” is #53,111. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

monotheism is uncommon English at frequency #53,111 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌmɑnoʊ̯ˈθiɪzm̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for monotheism, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: A learned 17th-century coinage, mono- + theism, from (μονός (monós, “one”)) and (θεός (theós, “god, deity”) + -ισμός (-ismós)) The term parallels the earlier polytheism, atheism (the simplex theism being slightly later). The term was coined by Henry More, c… The correct English form is monotheism, spelled M-O-N-O-T-H-E-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Belief in the One True God, defined by More as personal, immaterial and trinitarian.
  2. 2
    The belief in a single deity (one god or goddess); especially within an organized religion.
  3. 3
    The belief that God is one person (Judaism, Unitarian Christianity, Islam), not three persons (Trinitarian Christianity, Hinduism)

Etymology

A learned 17th-century coinage, mono- + theism, from (μονός (monós, “one”)) and (θεός (theós, “god, deity”) + -ισμός (-ismós)) The term parallels the earlier polytheism, atheism (the simplex theism being slightly later). The term was coined by Henry More, ca. 1660, in explicit juxtaposition with both atheism and polytheism. It was redefined through etymological fallacy by Daniel Webster ca. 1828.

This word in other languages

monoteísmo(Español)monothéisme(Français)Monotheismus(Deutsch)

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

How do you spell "monotheism"?
"monotheism" is spelled M-O-N-O-T-H-E-I-S-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌmɑnoʊ̯ˈθiɪzm̩/.
What does "monotheism" mean?
As a noun, "monotheism" means: Belief in the One True God, defined by More as personal, immaterial and trinitarian.
How do you pronounce "monotheism"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "monotheism" is /ˌmɑnoʊ̯ˈθiɪzm̩/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "monotheism"?
A learned 17th-century coinage, mono- + theism, from (μονός (monós, “one”)) and (θεός (theós, “god, deity”) + -ισμός (-ismós)) The term parallels the earlier polytheism, atheism (the simplex theism being slightly later). The term was coined by Hen... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "monotheism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

narcolepsy#53,127Netherland#53,129nihilistic#53,135numismatic#53,144

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list