motorcycle

/ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/

//ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl// noun

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

"motorcycle" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“motorcycle” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,382. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,382
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An open-seated motor vehicle with handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and having two (or sometimes three) wheels.

Corpus desk

Index EN-motorcycle · motorcycle · English

motorcycle · rank #6,382 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,382
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Montreal

Nearest frequency peer: Montreal (-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 “motorcycle”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “motorcycle” 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
Key facts for motorcycle
PropertyValue
Headwordmotorcycle
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/
Letters10
Frequency rank#6,382
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “motorcycle”

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).motorcyclelands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “Montreal” (#6,381), “nationwide” (#6,383), “monkey” (#6,380). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “motorcycle” is #6,382. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around motorcycle (IPA /ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,382 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "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

  1. 1
    An open-seated motor vehicle with handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and having two (or sometimes three) wheels.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Her big mission is to recover the precious Blue Star (a glowing rock in a box), which leads to a Western shoot-out, a space-age motorcycle gang, and an unamusing Darth Vader-esque villain.
  2. That last problem did intrude on Hazzard’s roamings, and when she refers to the living city it is with periodic references to thefts of cars and wallets, with a warning not to carry anything “snatchable” by the thieves on motorcycles who whiz through the streets. Her husband, Francis Steegmuller, the critic, translator and biographer who died in 1994, had…

Etymology

From motor + cycle, from the Motorcyclette produced in 1897 by the French Werner Frères et Cie.

Synonyms

bikechoppercyclemopedmotorbicyclemotorbikeautobikeautobicycle

This word in other languages

motocicleta(Español)moto(Français)Motorrad(Deutsch)motocicleta(Português)

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.

mmotorcycle1mootrcycle2motocrycle2motorccycle1motorccyle2motorcyccle1motorcycel2motorcyclle1
Edit distance from "motorcycle"

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"?
"motorcycle" is spelled M-O-T-O-R-C-Y-C-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/.
What does "motorcycle" mean?
As a noun, "motorcycle" means: An open-seated motor vehicle with handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and having two (or sometimes three) wheels.
What are common misspellings of "motorcycle"?
Common misspellings include "mmotorcycle", "mootrcycle", "motocrycle", "motorccycle", "motorccyle". The correct spelling is "motorcycle".
How do you pronounce "motorcycle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "motorcycle" is /ˈməʊtəˌsaɪkəl/. 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 "motorcycle"?
From motor + cycle, from the Motorcyclette produced in 1897 by the French Werner Frères et Cie. 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 "motorcycle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

nationwide#6,383nomination#6,388obligation#6,390graduation#6,362

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

responding16 variantsspecialized16 variantsconducting16 variantsaccommodation16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list