morpheme

/ˈmɔː.fiːm/

//ˈmɔː.fiːm// noun

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

"morpheme" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“morpheme” is uncommon English (frequency #68,459 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,459
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry a meaning. It may be a letter, a syllable, or otherwise.

Corpus desk

Index EN-morpheme · morpheme · English

morpheme · rank #68,459 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,459
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Montagne

Nearest frequency peer: Montagne (-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 “morpheme”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for morpheme
PropertyValue
Headwordmorpheme
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɔː.fiːm/
Letters8
Frequency rank#68,459
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “morpheme” 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).morphemefalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Montagne” (#68,458), “Moskva” (#68,461), “moneymaker” (#68,456). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “morpheme” is #68,459. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

morpheme is uncommon English at frequency #68,459 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɔː.fiːm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry a meaning. It may be a letter, a syllable, or otherwise.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for morpheme, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French morphème. Ultimately from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “shape, form”). By surface analysis, morph + -eme. The correct English form is morpheme, spelled M-O-R-P-H-E-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry a meaning. It may be a letter, a syllable, or otherwise.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how morpheme appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Just as a regiment is ultimately made up of soldiers, so the sentence is of morphemes—they are its ultimate constituents.
  2. There is therefore a natural tendency in both American and European structural linguistics to insist that the word should be syntactically decomposed. For writers such as Hockett (1958), or for that matter the early Chomsky (1957), the indivisible unit of grammar was the morpheme, and the relationship of morpheme to morpheme within the word […] was to be…

Etymology

From French morphème. Ultimately from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “shape, form”). By surface analysis, morph + -eme.

Synonyms

morpheme

This word in other languages

morfema(Español)morphème(Français)Morphem(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 "morpheme"?
"morpheme" is spelled M-O-R-P-H-E-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɔː.fiːm/.
What does "morpheme" mean?
As a noun, "morpheme" means: The smallest linguistic unit within a word that can carry a meaning. It may be a letter, a syllable, or otherwise.
How do you pronounce "morpheme"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "morpheme" is /ˈmɔː.fiːm/. 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 "morpheme"?
From French morphème. Ultimately from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “shape, form”). By surface analysis, morph + -eme. 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 "morpheme", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Montagne#68,458misplace#68,448mishmash#68,447Metatron#68,439

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list