motorcycle
/ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/
"motorcycle" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“motorcycle” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,382 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,382
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 16
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An open-seated motor vehicle with handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and having two (or sometimes three) wheels.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | motorcycle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #6,382 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “motorcycle” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for motorcycle is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,382 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An open-seated motor vehicle with handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and having two (or sometimes three) wheels.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for motorcycle, with forms such as "mmotorcycle", "mootrcycle", and "motocrycle". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From motor + cycle, from the Motorcyclette produced in 1897 by the French Werner Frères et Cie. The correct English form is motorcycle, spelled M-O-T-O-R-C-Y-C-L-E.
Definition
- 1An open-seated motor vehicle with handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and having two (or sometimes three) wheels.
Etymology
From motor + cycle, from the Motorcyclette produced in 1897 by the French Werner Frères et Cie.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmotorcycle,mootrcycle,motocrycle,motorccycle,motorccyle,motorcyccle,motorcycel,motorcyclle,motorcylce,motorcyycle,motorrcycle,motoryccle,motrocycle,mottorcycle,mtoorcycle,omtorcycle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of motorcycle - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "motorcycle"?
What does "motorcycle" mean?
What are common misspellings of "motorcycle"?
How do you pronounce "motorcycle"?
What is the origin of the word "motorcycle"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “motorcycle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-T-O-R-C-Y-C-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/ (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
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.