Mordred
/ˈmɔɹdɹɪd/
"mordred" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Mordred” is uncommon English (frequency #59,561 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #59,561
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The illegitimate son of King Arthur, who ultimately killed him in battle.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Mordred |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɔɹdɹɪd/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #59,561 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Mordred” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Mordred is uncommon English at frequency #59,561 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈmɔɹdɹɪd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The illegitimate son of King Arthur, who ultimately killed him in battle.".
No misspelling variants are generated for Mordred in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration of Modred, from Latin Modredus, from Proto-Brythonic *Modrọd (whence Old Breton Modrot, Old Cornish Modred, Old Welsh Medraut), perhaps from Latin Moderātus. The correct English form is Mordred, spelled M-O-R-D-R-E-D.
Definition
- 1The illegitimate son of King Arthur, who ultimately killed him in battle.
Etymology
Alteration of Modred, from Latin Modredus, from Proto-Brythonic *Modrọd (whence Old Breton Modrot, Old Cornish Modred, Old Welsh Medraut), perhaps from Latin Moderātus.
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); 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
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Using “Mordred”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-R-D-R-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɔɹdɹɪd/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.