# Moscow

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈmɒskəʊ/ · frequency rank #3,511

## Definitions
1. A federal city, the capital and largest city of Russia.
2. An oblast of Russia surrounding the city, which itself is not part of the oblast; in full, Moscow Oblast.
3. The government of Russia or the Soviet Union.
4. A large number of places in the United States:
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25. A hamlet in East Ayrshire council area, Scotland; probably named or re-named in 1812 for Napoleon's retreat from Moscow (OS grid ref NS4840).
26. A village in Kottayam district, Kerala, India; named due to Soviet influence in Kerala during the Cold War.
27. A nickname for the Brandon Estate, a social housing estate in Southwark, Central London; named because of gun violence and the use of Russian-made contraband firearms.

## Etymology
Ultimately from Old East Slavic Москов- (Moskov-), originally referring to the Moskva River, probably from Proto-Slavic *mosky (“swamp, dampness, moisture”). Perhaps related to Czech moskva (“raw bread”), Slovak mozga (“puddle”), Polish Mozgawa, and more distantly Latvian mazgāt (“to wash, rinse”), Sanskrit मज्जति (májjati, “to sink”), Latin mergō (“to dive”), all from Proto-Indo-European *mesg- (“to plunge, dip”). Cognate with Russian промозглый (promozglyj, “dank”). Doublet of Moskva.

## Easily confused with
- **mascot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mascot-vs-moscow)
- **morrow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/morrow-vs-moscow)

## Common misspellings (9)
`mmoscow`, `mocsow`, `mosccow`, `moscoww`, `moscwo`, `mosocw`, `mosscow`, `msocow`, `omscow`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/moscow