mortar

/ˈmɔːtə(ɹ)/

//ˈmɔːtə(ɹ)// noun

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

"mortar" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mortar” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,406. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,406
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding building blocks.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mortar · mortar · English

mortar · rank #10,406 · 9 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,406
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH moron

Nearest frequency peer: moron (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “mortar”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “mortar” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mortar vs motor
67% similar
mortar vs Morty
50% similar
mortar vs Morton
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mortar
PropertyValue
Headwordmortar
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɔːtə(ɹ)/
Letters6
Frequency rank#10,406
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “mortar”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).mortarlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “moron” (#10,405), “myths” (#10,407), “naive” (#10,408). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mortar” is #10,406. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around mortar (IPA /ˈmɔːtə(ɹ)/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,406 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for mortar, with forms such as "mmortar", "moratr", and "morrtar". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "motor", "Morty", "Morton", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortarium. The correct English form is mortar, spelled M-O-R-T-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding building blocks.
  2. 2
    A hollow vessel used to pound, crush, rub, grind or mix ingredients with a pestle.
  3. 3
    A short, heavy, large-bore cannon designed for indirect fire at very steep trajectories.
  4. 4
    A relatively lightweight, often portable indirect fire weapon which transmits recoil to a base plate and is designed to lob explosive shells at very steep trajectories.
  5. 5
    In paper milling, a trough in which material is hammered.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The holy hearth! If any earthly and material thing, or rather a divine idea embodied in brick and mortar, might be supposed to possess the permanence of moral truth, it was this.

Etymology

From Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortarium.

This word in other languages

mortero(Español)mortier(Français)Mörtel(Deutsch)argamassa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmortar
  • moratr
  • morrtar
  • mortarr
  • mortra
  • morttar
  • motrar
  • mrotar
  • omrtar

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mortar - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

mmortar1moratr2morrtar1mortarr1mortra2morttar1motrar2mrotar2
Edit distance from "mortar"

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 "mortar"?
"mortar" is spelled M-O-R-T-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɔːtə(ɹ)/.
What does "mortar" mean?
As a noun, "mortar" means: A mixture of lime or cement, sand and water used for bonding building blocks.
What words are commonly confused with "mortar"?
"mortar" is commonly confused with "motor", "Morty", "Morton". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mortar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mortar" is /ˈmɔːtə(ɹ)/. 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 "mortar"?
From Middle English morter, from Old French mortier, from Latin mortārium. Doublet of mortarium. 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 "mortar", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Norton#10,411PayPal#10,419Hilton#10,378greedy#10,376

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

myths9 variantsMohammed9 variantsSummers9 variantseighty9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list